Enter, rollable smartphones. The latter still feature flexible displays, but have a very different form factor. Oppo was one of the first companies, alongside Samsung, to showcase a working prototype unit and has now secured an interesting patent for a (potentially upcoming) rollable smartphone.
The most intriguing part of the design is that the rollable phone’s camera is only exposed when the device expands. Under normal circumstances, it remains obscured. The patent was first spotted and covered by 91Mobiles in a dedicated article.
For reference, rollable smartphones work by extending the flexible display only when necessary in order to provide more screen real estate, while remaining relatively portable. In a sense, they are a more advanced take on notepad-style foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
While it is still early to say whether rollables or foldables are the way to go, it is nice to see more companies taking the initiative and experimenting with flexible displays. The technology has come a long way since the days of the first Samsung Galaxy Fold.
While foldables were once a borderline gimmicky concept, they can now finally offer a meaningful alternative to the mundane handsets most users are stuck with. Perhaps the same could one day be said about rollables as well.
Lastly, Oppo is positioning itself as one of the biggest players in the foldable/rollable market. Its subsidiary, OnePlus, will be launching foldables of its own worldwide this year (i.e. OnePlus V Flip and OnePlus V Fold). Perhaps this new competition will once again push Samsung to innovate and not rest on its laurels.
