World's first foldable smartphone makes debut in China

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While smartphone companies are racing in the bezel-free game to get more screen space, a Shenzhen-based company announced what it claimed to be the world's first foldable smartphone in Beijing on October 31.

The 7.8inch, ultra-thin device known as FlexPai features the second generation of flexible displays which can be folded in half from the middle, and are thinner and lighter than the iPhone X's OLED screens.

Photo from Royole

The tablet-sized screen, which has the ability to work on the front, obverse and the edge, is the company's biggest highlight. When unfolded, the smartphone supports split-screen and multi-tasking mode just as a computer does.

But not everything goes well with this handset: It's said that the display flickers when changed from one mode to another before eventually settling.

Photo from Royole

The phones are available on its company website with the price tags from 8,999 to 12,999 yuan (1,290 to 1,863 US dollars) depending on different specifications.

According to Royole, they will also offer a developer model to engineers around the world. Its CEO, Dr. Bill Liu, said that during the product launch, they will give 30 million US dollars towards supporting and rewarding global software developers who create new apps for the phone.

Foldable phones finally arrive

A flexible screen is not a new thing. When Samsung announced their OLED display technology several years ago, whispers about their foldable devices have been constant in tech circles. In 2016, one of the company's spokespersons discussed the creation of a clamshell device that could be folded in half.

Photo from Royole

According to the Verge, Samsung's foldable smartphone is set to be making an appearance next week at its yearly developer conference, and both LG and Huawei are also reportedly developing foldable handsets of their own.

So far one thing needs to be noticed about the FlexPai is that the smartphone weighs 320g, much heavier than the iPhone's largest Max series and Samsung's Galaxy Note series. So we can only wait to get the feedback to know whether customers will get used to this bulky object.