Royole announces first smartphone with foldable screen

The unknown company Royole has announced the Flexpai, the first smartphone with a folding screen. The screen is 7.8″ when unfolded, but can almost completely double for a much smaller surface.

The interface, an Android release called Water OS, scales with how users like it, write several visitors to the event where Royole presented the phone, such as ITHome and Sina.

The screen is of our own making. Royole has set up a factory in China for the production of its thin, foldable OLED screens. These are not only for smartphones, but also for speakers and T-shirts, for example. The Shenzhen factory can manufacture up to 50 million OLED screens per year.

The device is 7.6mm thick and has a hinge to allow the fold. The screen sits over it, so the hinge is only visible at the back. The screen is in the folded position on the front, side and back of the device.

Presumably, major manufacturers will soon come with such smartphones, although it will initially be experimental models. Samsung, LG and Huawei, among others, are said to be working on models with folding screens. Samsung would like to show its foldable smartphone for the first time next week.

The FlexPai runs on an unannounced Qualcomm Snapdragon soc, presumably the 8150. It is unusual for manufacturers to present smartphones with a soc that suppliers have not yet announced. For example, the first smartphones with new Snapdragons often follow weeks or months after Qualcomm’s announcement. Royole will hold a ‘flash sale’ of the device on Thursday, but it is unknown when customers will receive it.