PC giant Lenovo has just unveiled the world's first foldable laptop. The device, which is still a prototype and doesn't yet have a firm release date or pricing, will be a part of the company's venerable ThinkPad X1 family of notebooks and feature a foldable 13.3-inch touchscreen display as well as a keyboard attachment.

In development at Lenovo for three years, the X1 prototype can be folded down the middle and held as a book, or laid out flat and used as what is essentially a tablet PC. And while Samsung's Galaxy Fold may have hit a brick wall after early users saw its foldable display crack, Lenovo's offering proves that foldable devices are still the future of personal computing.

With a smaller overall footprint when folded, increased functionality, and a sleek look, foldable devices are sure to capture consumers’ attention.

It bends, it folds!

The X1 prototype is an impressive device to behold. Like the Galaxy Fold, the screen folds in on itself like a book. But whereas the crease where the Fold bent was fairly visible, the Lenovo PC's crease is more difficult to make out. It's still there when you look at the screen at the right angle, but it doesn't stand out quite as much.

The version of the X1 prototype I used was very much an early stage product, and as such I wasn't able to do much with it outside of see that it was running some version of Windows 10, as well as fold and unfold the display. I was also unable to look at the hinge mechanism, as that's still being finalized by Lenovo.

Impressively, Lenovo says that the hinge and display, which is designed by LG Display (LPL), will be able to withstand more open and close cycles than a standard Lenovo laptop. That should mean you'll get plenty of use out of the hinge, since breaking apart a laptop's hinge is pretty tough to do. That said, I'm hoping Lenovo can provide a definitive number to help give consumers an idea as to how long they can expect to have their device.

Bending the display felt smooth, offered a good amount of resistance and could be stopped at any angle. Lenovo attributes this to the use of a torque hinge, which is the same kind of hinge found in a notebook. When I used the Galaxy Fold, I was able to easily flip its display open and slap it shut, but that could prove more difficult given the Lenovo device's larger size. It would be like slamming a text book closed, and I'm fairly sure that would be bad for the screen.

As far as the visual qualities of the display, the X1 prototype is packing an absolute beauty. The OLED panel really makes colors pop. And given the fact that the Lenovo device is essentially just a large foldable screen, it will be especially useful when watching Netflix (NFLX) in bed or on a plane. A built-in kickstand should also make the X1 prototype a standout content viewing machine.