LG rollable phone could have foldable phones beat based on this patent

LG is no stranger to innovation, having recently launched the dual-screen LG Wing 5G for example, and its next major experiment could be a rollable phone, one that a recently published patent details.

Spotted by LetsGoDigital, the patent shows a device that starts out looking much like any other smartphone, but one where you can pull out the left and right edges to extend the OLED screen. You can pull one or both edges, and fully extending both will double the size of the display.

These extendable screen sections are rollable, which is how they can hide within the casing of the phone, unlike a foldable screen.

• TCL is also working on a rollable phone
• There are lots of foldable phones
• We're waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3

Based on the patent, the mechanisms required for this shouldn’t take up too much space within the body of the handset, meaning that LG’s rollable phone could be slimmer than a foldable, and these rollable sections are also apparently more durable than the crease of a foldable phone, so it’s less likely to break.

This LG rollable phone seems on paper then like it could have most of the advantages of a foldable phone, with fewer of the problems faced by those devices. Of course, this handset might only exist on paper for now, and there’s no guarantee it will ever become a commercial product.

But there’s certainly a chance it could. LG has already launched a rollable TV (albeit for an astronomical price), and The Elec (a South Korean tech news site) has recently cited “people familiar with the matter” as saying that LG’s first rollable phone (supposedly known internally as B Project) will land in March 2021.

We’re not convinced that something this ambitious would land that soon, but you never know, and it seems quite likely that LG is working towards launching a rollable phone at some point.

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Via PocketNow