TCL shows hinge and screen for foldable smartphones coming in 2020
The Chinese manufacturer TCL, which makes phones under the Alcatel and BlackBerry brands, among other things, shows a hinge and an OLED screen for foldable smartphones. According to TCL, the DragonHinge technology will end up in consumer products in 2020.
TCL uses an OLED panel from subsidiary CSOT for its folding screen. With its DragonHinge technique, the company claims to have developed and patented a method for installing a folding screen in smartphones. In an announcement, the company says it sees a future in foldable devices, but is not in the running to be the first with such a product.
At the Mobile World Congress that starts Monday in Barcelona, TCL will show prototypes of devices that use the hinge and screen. The manufacturer expects the first consumer products with the technology to be released in 2020. In the announcement, TCL does not provide specific details about the hinge, nor does it mention any specifications of the screen.
According to AnandTech, which was shown prototypes of TCL, it is a relatively cheap solution and should enable foldable properties in the mainstream segment. The prototype that TCL shows consists of a 7.2″ screen with a resolution of 2048×1536 pixels. A folding screen can be seen, but the hinge is not yet integrated, TCL only shows that in a separate prototype, without a screen.
Prototype of TCL – Photo: AnandTech