Motorola shows concept smartphone with vertically rollable screen
On the eve of MWC, Motorola is showing a concept smartphone with a rollable screen. The device has a pOLED screen that curls around the back and can slide up and down motorized.
The concept device was developed by Motorola’s 312 Labs business unit. Officially it has no name, but the name is on the back of the device ‘Rizr’ mention. When rolled up, it has a 5″ screen with a 15:9 ratio, which results in a compact box. Previous rollable concepts such as the OPPO around the bottom of the device, and can motorized up to a 6.5″ panel with 22:9 aspect ratio. Motorola does not mention the resolution of the screen, but in hands-on the sharpness seems about the same as a smartphone with a Full HD panel. The screen has a fairly soft-feeling top layer, which also shows some dents on the concept devices shown.
Motorola calls the Rizr the world’s most versatile 5″ smartphone. The roll-up screen allows for a number of interesting usage scenarios. You can manually slide the screen in and out with a press of the side button on the top right, but the screen can also adjust automatically on the content on the screen. This works on the concept device shown in two apps, YouTube and Gmail, where, for example, watching a video in landscape automatically rolls out the screen.
The front camera is hidden under the display
Because part of the screen is rolled up at the back of the device, that part can be used as a notification screen, similar to the small front screen on foldables such as the Motorola Razr or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4. You can also use it as a viewfinder for the rear camera. The Moto Rizr also has a front camera, but it is well hidden. The rollable screen can not only slide upwards, but also slightly downwards, revealing the tiny camera underneath the display. The Rizr’s screen does not require any holes or cutouts.
Since this is a concept device, no further specifications of the Rizr are known. It is also not clear whether Motorola plans to release a similar device in the future, and at what price.