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Vivo beating Samsung to a slider phone with rollable display

Published: Oct 09, 2023, 9:25 AM

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Vivo beating Samsung to a slider phone with rollable display

While Samsung has been showing off with rollable display concepts, it might be Chinese phone makers like Vivo that will have a handset with slidable panel on the market first. Apparently, Samsung's head start in the foldable phone realm spearheaded the development of a phone with a slidable display, and it will be on the market for the next holiday quarter.

Both Vivo and Transion intend to beat Samsung to the new slider game, tip The Elec's industry insiders, and the latter already showcased its Phantom Ultimate prototype bearing a rollable display made by CSOT.

Its 6.55-inch portrait cover screen unrolls to a big 7.1-inch squarish display in a bit over second when a larger canvas is needed. While this speed is similar to opening a phone like the Z Fold 5, the ones with a rollable display can be made much more compact as they only use one panel.

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Since thickness and heft are some of the main drawbacks of foldables, if Vivo or Transion manage to launch before Samsung, they might steal some of the market for unorthodox form factors away from the Korean juggernaut.

That's literally been their thinking, says the report, informing that Vivo is probing both CSOT, and Samsung itself, over the supply of flexible displays that can roll around one of their ends without crumpling or worse, tearing. As you can see in the video below, it's not that outlandish of a concept, and prototypes of such sliders with flexible displays have been bandied about for years. Heck, Samsung even showcased a big one during the summer at the SID 2023 expo:

Vivo's slider phone with rollable display, however, may look like the Oppo X 2021 prototype that was demonstrated a while back. The product looks like any other smartphone with a 6.7-inch curved-edge display at first glance. But if you prefer a tablet-like experience, a simple swipe on the side will expand the display to 7.4-inches.

The retractable OLED display is paired with a proprietary Roll Motor powertrain which generates a constant force so that there are no creases or dimples on the screen like with foldables. If the Vivo slider that is to be released next year is a refined version of that, we can't wait to hold it and test if this would indeed be the future's viable form factor.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.