Motorola has introduced a new version of a flexible smartphone: Unlike a foldable smartphone or even a model with a rollable screen, this one can be rotated in several places. Enough to wrap it around your wrist to use as a connected watch.
At Lenovo Tech World ’23, manufacturer Motorola presented a new smartphone prototype with a flexible screen. Enough to create a hybrid concept between a foldable smartphone and a connected watch, as the latter can be wrapped around the wrist.
A smartphone with a flexible panel: what’s the point?
This smartphone is designed with a pOled FHD+ panel that can be folded in various places. Motorola has of course relied on its long-standing expertise in foldable screens, but also that of Lenovo in laptops (the first goes with the second). This concept wasn’t invented by Motorola: Lenovo introduced a similar one in 2016. The recipe is used and improved.
A flexible smartphone concept from Motorola // Source: Motorola
A 6.9-inch screen that can be used in both a completely flat position and in a “rolled up” position to wear this device on your wrist. In reality, the screen doesn’t fold completely and the phone doesn’t form a perfect circle, but rather a semicircle. Both the top and bottom of the screen are relatively flat and sit above and below the wrist.
On the way to functional and marketable models?
The top of the screen that we see can be fully used. The interface is not exactly the same as a flat screen, but almost the same since it is that of a Motorola Razr 40 Ultra. Since the external screen of this Motorola smartphone is large, you can use any application you want. The interest in using the software is an indication that Motorola could market such a prototype in the future.
This isn’t the only use Motorola envisions. When the smartphone is curved, it can be placed vertically on a flat surface, such as a table. Enough to have support integrated into the smartphone, which is neither more nor less than… the panel itself. The usable area then reduces to 4.6 inches.
Motorola has not yet announced the marketing of its smartphone concept. The technical hurdles are still big: we need to be able to produce this special slab in large quantities and ensure its reliability. And what about autonomy: the mechanism that allows the screen to be folded in several places is undoubtedly larger than a folding smartphone hinge. Enough to take up space, and to find it we often sacrifice the size of the battery.