The Royole FlexPai was the first foldable phone that most people could buy, and now its successor has launched – meet the Royole FlexPai 2.
The original Royole FlexPai stood from the mass of standard 'chocolate-bar' phones all on its own, but the FlexPai 2 doesn't have that distinction. In a world of Huawei Mate Xses, Motorola Razrs and Samsung Galaxy Folds, novelty alone won't be enough to propel the FlexPai 2 to success.
It's a good thing, then, that the Royole FlexPai 2 looks pretty well specced-out, from its processor to its camera array. The main thing we don't know right now is international pricing, but given that we've yet to see a folding phone that's affordable, we're expecting it to be expensive.
We're still waiting on global launch details, but the Royole FlexPai 2 has had an official launch in China, so we know about its design and most of its specs, and below we'll tell you everything you need to know about the new folding phone.
Royole FlexPai 2 release date and price
The Royole FlexPai 2 launch was in September 2020, but that was only in China, and there's no word on when it's coming to the rest of the world.
In China the phone costs RCNY9988, which roughly converts to $1,470 / £1,150 / AU$2,040, although when the phone launches internationally those converted prices could end up being way off. We've no idea which regions the Royale FlexPai 2 will launch in either.
You can see the current prices of some other foldable phones in your region below, so you can compare those with our speculative Royole FlexPai 2 price.
Royole FlexPai 2 display and design
The Royole FlexPai 2 has a newly-designed version of the 'cicada' hinge used in the original model, but for all intents and purposes the phone has the same design as its predecessor. It folds in half vertically, with the screen on the outside in this state.
The hinge is said to be able to fold out from 0 to 180 degrees, with no gap between the displays when the device is closed, and with the screens perfectly aligned when open. It's supposedly been tested to survive 1,800,000 folds – that seems a little over the top, as to reach that figure you'd have to fold your phone nearly 500 times every day for 10 years, but it does sound reassuring at least.
A key point of the marketing around the phone is Royole's claim that, when the phone is open, you can't feel the fold in the middle of the display. We've heard this before from other companies, but we've never found it be the case, so we'll be interested to see if Royole really has managed to achieve it.
When unfolded, the phone has a 7.8-inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 1920 x 1440 resolution. When it's closed, the front display is 5.5 inches across with a 1440 x 900 aspect ratio, and the back screen is a touch smaller at 5.4-inches and 1440 x 810.
The reason the back display is a little smaller than the front one is because it also houses the camera array, which we'll look at shortly. This sits in a long vertical panel alongside the screen, and it's pointing towards you when the device is opened, so when the device is open you'll only be able to take selfies, and you'll need to close it to take other snaps.
Royole FlexPai 2 camera
The Royole FlexPai 2 has four cameras, plus an intriguing-sounding 'soft light' flash module, which apparently provides a dimmer and less harsh light that's better for selfies.
The four cameras are 64MP f/1.89 main, 32MP f/2.0 portrait, 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide and 8MP f/2.4 telephoto – it's not clear why the portrait and main cameras are different, given that a 64MP snapper would likely take great selfies.
We don't know anything about specific camera features or video specs yet, but given the chipset – see below – it's possible that 8K video recording is an option.
Royole FlexPai 2 specs
The Royole FlexPai comes with a Snapdragon 865 chipset, which should give it top-end processing power, and it's 5G compatible too.
There are two memory and storage options: 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. We'd imagine that the previously stated Chinese price is for the former option, although we're not 100% sure about that.
The phone runs Android 10, with Royole's WaterOS laid over the top, and presumably it'll get the Android 11 update at some point. We found the OS of the original FlexPai a little fiddly to use, but that phone ran an older version of Android, and newer builds have included better optimizations for foldable phones.
As for battery life, the phone has a 4,450mAh battery, but given the device's large screen area we'd imagine the phone may struggle to last a day. There's 18W charging, which isn't exactly fast, but should be fine for powering up the phone overnight.
