Unveiled the first foldable smartphone on the market: it’s called Royole FlexPai and no, it’s not Samsung or Huawei.
The world’s first folding smartphone was launched and no, it’s not Samsung’s or LG’s or Huawei’s. The giants hi tech, number one candidates for the release of the first smartphone with flexible display, have been anticipated by someone else. In fact, by a Chinese startup.
Royole Corporation, leave the mobile industry surprised, has unveiled the world’s first folding smartphone on the market and is called Royole FlexPai (pictured). The device, equipped with a 7.8” screen with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1440, can be used folded or open and offers users the possibility to choose whether to use it as a smartphone or tablet. It was launched in China in a flash sale at a price of around $1,295. The company has announced that deliveries will start in late December.
Once folded, the Flexpai has three separate screens: one on the front and two on the back. This means that when you take a picture of another person, both the phone user and the subject of the image will be able to see the shot. And because the device folds into three individual displays, owners will be able to accept or reject phone calls on the back display while they are watching a movie on the front display.
In addition to its more innovative features, Flexpai is equipped with two 16 and 20 megapixel cameras (like iPhone XS, Google Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 9) and boasts 8 GB of RAM.
Royole said that FlexPai will subvert the people’s perception of traditional smartphones, working as a portable device and tablet with a large high-definition screen, with the ability to support dual-screen use. Royale’s CEO, Bill Liu, also said that the company will invest 200 million yuan in global companies that will develop apps and software for the smartphone.
Before the presentation of FlexPai, it was widely expected that Samsung or Huawei would be the first to launch a folding smartphone, with Apple in contention. At the beginning of 2018 DJ Koh, CEO of Samsung’s mobile division, told CNBC that the company would unveil details about the folding smartphone this year, and that although the development was difficult Samsung had almost finished it.
The South Korean giant has been talking about flexible screens for several years and someone will remember that it introduced for the first time the concept of folding OLED display at CES 2013, with the demonstration of its first prototype in a private meeting the following year. We will probably have to wait for the MWC 2019, when the Samsung Galaxy X will make its appearance in public.