OPPO has officially unveiled its new concept smartphone, the OPPO X 2021, today during its Inno Day 2020 online presentation. It is the first device from the brand to feature an extendable display which allows it to expand into a larger screen.
The concept phone comes in at a regular size of 6.7-inches, which then can be extended to a total of 7.4-inches in width via a motorised scroll mechanism. As demonstrated by the company in a series of short videos on Twitter, a simple swipe on a button located on its side will trigger the transformation, and swiping it in reverse after that will do the opposite. OPPO claims that users are allowed to freely customise the screen size outside of its default minimum and maximum width if they wish.
Time to get hands-on in the experience zone! 👀
Stay tuned for more and follow the latest with #OPPOINNODAY20 pic.twitter.com/BVcqI6pcbd
— OPPO (@oppo) November 17, 2020
The company explains that the motorised scroll mechanism consists of an OLED panel which is laminated on top of a “Warp Track” that keeps it attached to the phone in both default and extended modes. This provides the display to have increased durability when it extends or retracts via the built-in roll motor on the left hand side of the device.
OPPO X 2021卷轴概念机，感受一下: pic.twitter.com/SebyzK8Nzj
— Digital Chat Station (@StationChat) November 17, 2020
When used in its default screen size, the excess display of the OPPO X 2021 slides into a hidden compartment in the back of the phone rather than being rolled up. This method also prevents any form of warping or creases, the company added. OPPO vice president and head of research Levin Liu says that the company had applied for 122 patents for this project, where 12 of which were of the scroll mechanism.
OPPO did not provide any specifications regarding the phone’s internal hardware or camera setup, although the latter may just be a placeholder since the device is still merely a concept. Another detail worth noting is that there isn’t any front facing camera present on or nearby the display.
The #OPPOX2021 is the latest achievement from OPPO’s constant exploration into mobile phone form factors. It is built with a rollable OLED display measuring 6.7 inches which expands to 7.4 inches. #OPPOINNODAY20 pic.twitter.com/T96DOQ8KZm
— OPPO (@oppo) November 17, 2020
Despite having the year included in its name, the company did not confirm if the OPPO X 2021 will be commercially available by that time. Liu says that the extendable smartphone is still in its concept stage, but noted that he hopes to bring this technology to consumers when the time is right.
(Source: OPPO [Twitter] [YouTube] / Digital Chat Station [Twitter])
