Motorola Debuts Rollable Concept Smartphone That Could Rival Current Foldables
Once novel, foldable smartphones have quickly become commonplace, with Samsung even allegedly working on a flexible screen that will allow its compact gadgets to slide open to triple their size.
Even Apple, which has yet to debut a foldable model of the iPhone, seems to be getting on board the trend, as recent patents has signaled that the technology giant could follow in the footsteps of its competitors and create a folding smartphone with a waterfall screen.
👀 Wow! Think I've found my favourite gadget at #MWC23 before it even starts. This concept rollable is really impressive and @Moto was confident enough to let us have hands-on time. Interesting to watch the road to commercialisation on this one... pic.twitter.com/EDgkWsOm1t
— Ben Wood (@benwood) February 26, 2023
However, it seems there’s one smartphone manufacturer that’s bucking the trend and turning to a different kind of expanding device instead—rollable phones. That’s what Motorola presented at the Mobile World Congress 2023, with journalists getting an in-person look at the phone.
According to Rita El Khoury, who experienced the device first-hand for Android Authority, the prototype is an evolution of the company’s prior Rizr series and presents as just five inches tall when it’s most compact.
I got to see a rollable "rizr" concept phone from Motorola at #MWC2023 and it's cool as heck.
— Dr. Rita El Khoury (@khouryrt) February 26, 2023
Rollables just make more sense than foldables to me. pic.twitter.com/A3wztIym5Z
The smartphone features a POLED display that covers the entirety of its front and wraps around the bottom third of its back, which can be rolled out to be used as a secondary display. Just by double-tapping the power button, the phone begins to unfurl, with the screen rolling upwards to expand to 6.5 inches.
More impressively, when the display begins rolling—which only takes several moments—the screen automatically displays more content on the page, mimicking what it would look like if you were unscrolling a piece of paper in real life.
The display also rolls *down* to reveal a hidden selfie camera and speaker for phone calls. @moto isn’t bringing this phone to market today, but it’s not an engineering proof of concept either. #mwc2023 pic.twitter.com/QFSGERnFSh
— Avi Greengart (@greengart) February 26, 2023
Techsponential’s Avi Greengart revealed that the display even rolls down to unveil a hidden selfie camera and speaker that can be used for phone calls or to listen to music. Though he cautions it’s not yet known how durable the device will be if you drop it or carry it around unprotected.
At the moment, the rollable phone is just a prototype and is likely to remain as such in the near future as Motorola works on making it a viable option for real-life users. But it certainly signals that the smartphone industry is nowhere out of ideas. What other devices can we expect next?
Kicking off #mwc2023 with @Moto *working* rollable smartphone concept. Double click power button to raise/lower the display OR… pic.twitter.com/xdZZQDD0fm
— Avi Greengart (@greengart) February 26, 2023
…the @moto rollable will change display size automatically if it sees you need more real estate for a keyboard, content, etc. pic.twitter.com/VriBT2NrEs
— Avi Greengart (@greengart) February 26, 2023
[via Mashable and Android Police, cover image via Rafael Henrique | Dreamstime.com]
