Lenovo, the Chinese company that owns Motorola, recently held a virtual tech expo called Lenovo Tech World ’22, where it gave consumers and analysts a glimpse into the future of Lenovo’s future products. Among the products discussed at the event included a rollable concept smartphone designed by Motorola engineers. The device showcased by Motorola is a super pocketable device that stands a little over 4 inches tall. When the display is completely unrolled, the device transforms into a smartphone with a much larger 6.5-inch panel — the standard size for most candy bar-styled smartphones sold today.
Motorola revealed that its concept smartphone could be used in three different states: extended, compact, and peek. All three states could be invoked by simply pressing a button on the device itself. Motorola also showcased an early prototype of its rollable phone in action. In the video, Lenovo Executive VP Luca Rossi is seen holding the phone and demoing how the rollable display expands, and the on-screen content dynamically adjusts itself. Motorola’s blog post showcasing the rollable smartphone concept also talks about a rollable laptop PC concept that uses similar technology to give users access to larger screen real estate without needing an additional monitor.
Motorola’s concept devices with rollable displays are still in their prototype phases. While the company didn’t give a time frame for these devices to make it into production, given the rapid advancements in the foldable OLED displays sector, we could see these devices in the hands of consumers within the next couple of years.
