Xiaomi appears to be working on their own bendable display
In the world of mobile tech, one of the most sought-after and futuristic features is that of the bendable display. For years now, we've been dreaming of a smartphone, tablet, or any other mobile gadget that will allow the screen to flex or bend without breaking. The biggest mainstream phone that we've see with any sort of flexible screen has been LG's G Flex, but both the G Flex and G Flex 2 had their own set of issues that set them back from being great. Samsung has dabbled with curved displays on smartphones like the S7 Edge and Note 7, but these aren't technically bendable or flexible.
In a new leak from Baidu, it would appear that Chinese smartphone-maker Xiaomi is experimenting with their own bendable display that actually looks like a smartphone. Two renders of this bendable screen have surfaced, and as you can see, the images make it look like the screen itself is an Android phone running Xiaomi's own custom UI. However, the two pictures we currently have don't show where any of the silicon is that's required to power a phone, so whether or not these displays are legit is still up in the air. However, if they do turn out to be real, they can supposedly bend forwards, backwards, left, and right without breaking at all.
The idea of having a smartphone with a bendable screen certainly is enticing, but at this point in time, the reality of this concept is still a bit murky. For one thing, the cost of producing these bendable displays has proven to be extremely costly. Both Samsung and LG have reported that they're shelling out billions of dollars on their own production of OLED displays that are flexible, but having a flexible screen on a smartphone (e.g. LG G Flex) is much different than the futuristic idea of carrying around a smartphone than you can completely fold. The concept itself is quite neat, but when you start thinking about how that would work with all of the components required to make a smartphone tick, the idea becomes much more difficult to grasp.
In any case, we're excited to see as to whether or not these bendable Xiaomi displays turn out to be legit. We certainly hope they do, because as more and more companies start adopting bendable screen technology and seeing what they can do with it, the sooner we could see a truly bendable smartphone in the not too distant future.
source: Gizmochina via Android Authority
Things that are NOT allowed: