Samsung is a pioneer in the brave new world of foldable phones, and if it wasn't already clear, the company has no intention of resting on its laurels.

At CES 2022, the company showed off no less than four expandable phone and tablet concepts, indicating that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 are the early stages of an extensive product roadmap for the best foldable phones.

First to be introduced is an improvement on the method established by the Galaxy Z Fold series. What if the screen could be folded twice, allowing for an even larger tablet form factor when unfolded? The result is the two concepts, Flex S and Flex G, shown in the video below.

Flex S comes in two forms, both of which can be folded like an S. The difference between the two versions is that one has a transparent area that allows a portion of the internal screen to be seen even when the device is completely folded.

The Flex G also divides the panel into three parts, but this time it folds into a "G" shape so that the back of the screen is on the outside when the device is closed. This obviously means that you cannot touch the screen, but on the flip side it also means that the panel is protected when placed in a pocket or bag.

The foldable display does more than just turn a smartphone into a tablet; Samsung has bigger things in mind with the Flex Note.

Here, the large 17" panel can be folded in half for portability or used as a 13" laptop with virtual controls on the bottom half. Its practicality as a laptop is a bit questionable to me, though, given the feel of the touchscreen keyboard for writing long sentences.

Finally, Samsung demonstrated the Flex Slidable, a phone that is not a million miles away from the LG Rollable and Oppo X 2021 concepts. At the press of a button, the screen stretches by about a third, as shown in the demo below.

Of all the concepts on display, I have to say that this one seems to need a killer use case the most. The demo shows the extra area used to select apps, but frankly, I don't find it any more convenient than swiping from the right side to view Samsung's Edge panel.

In any case, these are just concepts, and it will certainly be exciting to see what approach Samsung is considering for the next generation of expandable screens. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 are likely to be an evolution, not a revolution.

But that doesn't mean that Samsung couldn't release a whole new foldable that could make our best phones list. But keep in mind that Samsung is not the only player in the foldable phone field, as the Honor Magic V has been announced and outperforms the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in five major ways.