TCL was among the first in the world to show a smartphone with folding screen, a technology that was made popular by the likes of Samsung, Huawei and more recently by Motorola. But while this is yet to go mainstream, TCL has now gone a step ahead and has showcased a ‘rollable’ screen smartphone. What this means is that a part of the smartphone extends and, in the process, expands the rolling screen from underneath. That’s not all, the Chinese tech firm has also showcased a prototype handset with dual-folding screen.
Starting with the ‘rollable’ smartphone, this is a merely proof-of-concept device and is nowhere near to its final version or launch, as mentioned by The Verge. The company has however, released a video showing a full-fledged working model. As explained in the report and seen in the video, the handset’s flexible display rolls from the side of the device. There’s a dedicated button, pressing which, the hidden screen ‘unrolls’ from the side, expanding the screen estate to almost double of what it was before.
Although it doesn’t show any visible creases as seen in current foldable smartphones, it still has a long way to go before it reaches the shelves.
As for the dual-folding screen smartphone, TCL says the handset with a traditional 6.65-inch screen can have up to 10-inch screen when completely unfolded. We have seen a glimpse of it at this year’s CES conference but it wasn’t functional at that point. The use case here can be, for instance, one can watch a video and expand the screen to watch it on a larger display, without the need to carry a tablet separately. Similarly, for the Calendar app as well.
As per The Verge, while the one first fold uses company’s own DragonHinge setup, the other one uses a ButterflyHinge tech to flush the folds in gap-less ‘S’ shape. However, the device has its own set of issues including the weight, thickness and real-life usability in general.
Nonetheless, both are concepts for now but you never know when companies like Samsung and Huawei take cues from it and make this popular by launching an actual consumer version of the product.
