Samsung galaxy Round..

Announced earlier this week, the Samsung Galaxy Round isn't your typical Samsung device. While it clearly resembles the other Galaxy-branded handsets, this Android smartphone is the first to sport a horizontally curved display. According to Samsung, the Round uses a flexible full-HD Super AMOLED display which doesn't actually bend, but is instead locked into a gentle curve that is likely to fit more comfortably in your palm.

Upside

The Round's flexible 5.7-inch screen isn't just an aesthetic feature. Samsung has added a few software tweaks that take advantage of the curved surface. For instance, there is the cool Roll Effect feature which turns the screen on to reveal the date, time, missed calls and battery life when one side of the phone is pressed down while it is lying on the table. Bounce UX is another interesting tweak, which lets you control music playback by similarly pressing down on one side to tilt the phone. Tilting the phone toward the left will play the previous track, while tilting the phone on the right will forward to the next song.

Samsung has also incorporated some of the Note 3 features in the Round, including the One-Hand Operation, where you perform a zig-zag motion to shrink the screen to a smaller size so you can operate it with one hand. Multi-tasking is also supported, just like in the Note 3 where you can open two different apps (or the same app twice) in a top-down layout. This allows for content to be easily shared between supported apps.

Like other high-end Galaxy devices, the Round packs the latest hardware. Powered by a snappy quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, the Round also comes loaded with 3GB of RAM and runs Android 4.3. Unfortunately, the 13-megapixel camera doesn't come with the new OIS module recently announced, so it will likely have the same low-light issues we noticed on the Note 3.

Downside

While having a curved screen is an interesting proposition for a phone, it does come with its own unique problems. For one, it will not sit properly on the table (though Samsung has designed around this by adding features that take advantage of this), and will likely create a slight bulge in your pocket due to the curve.

Depending on how you hold the phone when making calls, the Round's curved screen seems rather awkward-shaped and does not look too comfortable on the face. This is unlike the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus, which featured a vertical curved screen that's angled to fit the contours of the face.

Outlook

Currently available only in South Korea, the Samsung Galaxy Round doesn't seem like a phone that will leave the boundaries of its home country for now. I'm guessing that Samsung is not churning out enough flexible screens to make enough phones, though once the company ramps up production, this could change. My take is Samsung will use the Round to get some market response, before rolling out curved screens to the rest of its upcoming product lineup. In the future, we may even see a phone with display that actually bends, instead of the fixed curved display that the Round has.