Smartphones with foldable displays are now a thing… an expensive thing, but a thing nonetheless. Dual-screen phones are here as well.
What’s next? Rollables, apparently.
LG has already teased that its next Explorer Edition device will be a smartphone with a screen that unrolls to become tablet-sized. Now Chinese phone maker Oppo has stolen a bit of LG’s thunder by revealing a functional concept design for its own rollable smartphone display.
The company showed off a concept phone it’s called the Oppo X 2021 during an event in China. At first glance, it looks like a phone with a 6.7 inch display. But it becomes a tablet with a 7.4 inch screen when you swipe the side of the device to expand the screen.
While that might not sound much larger, keep in mind that those are the diagonal measurements. Oppo hasn’t provided detailed specs about the screen resolution, but device seems to have a aspect ratio around 21:9 or so in phone mode, and something closer to 4:3 in tablet mode, so you do get much more screen real estate when the display is unrolled.
Oppo says the concept device features an OLED screen and a 6.8mm roll motor that allows a portion of the display to hide inside the phone when you’re not using it.
Time to get hands-on in the experience zone! 👀
Stay tuned for more and follow the latest with #OPPOINNODAY20 pic.twitter.com/BVcqI6pcbd
— OPPO (@oppo) November 17, 2020
There’s no word on if or when Oppo will bring a phone to market using this technology, but the decision to call the device the Oppo X 2021 does suggest the company is at least thinking about launching a rollable sometime next year.
The #OPPOX2021 rollable OLED screen:
⚙️ Proprietary roll motor powertrain
🛡️ 2-in-1 plate
✨ Warp Track high-strength screen laminate#OPPOINNODAY20 pic.twitter.com/VXvPgMKuB1— OPPO (@oppo) November 17, 2020
via @oppo, 9to5Google, GizmoChina, and The Verge
This is so much more appealing than a folding phone with a crease in the middle of the screen.
The year is 2021, smartphone repairs are now being handled by Rolex service centres.