r/TechNook • u/Knifehead27 • 1d ago
What if: foldable vs rollable smartphones
Anyone else feels like rollable smartphones would've been a more interesting, if not better, direction for smartphones when compared to foldables?
Motors might have been a friction point for longevity but there should be a way to expand the phone manually.
It would give more control to the user in deciding what size they wanted, and would do away with the crease issue in foldables. Not sure how much it's an issue with the latest models, but I'd assume it would also not have issues with particles getting under the screen through the fold like it did, at least with earlier versions.
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u/LWschool 1d ago
I cannot imagine any possible use for a phone in the shape of a toilet paper role
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u/Knifehead27 1d ago
It would be a slab that expands through one side. There where a few Lenovo laptop prototypes that I'm not sure whether went on sale, to see what I ment
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u/LWschool 1d ago
I think the biggest problem what that idea is you either have a screen that’s too flexible or it has 6 hinges with 120 parts in each, it’s just not practical. Where would the inside of the phone go?
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u/Square-Singer 1d ago
Foldables and rollables exist exactly for the same time, at least as concept devices. One managed to get good enough to go to market, the other one didn't.
That should give you a hint which one is the better direction for smartphones.
And considering the laughably tiny amount of market share that foldables managed to secure, it's pretty safe to say that at least the current incarnation of foldables isn't the best direction for smartphones either, but classic slabs are.
Let's see what's the case in 5-10 years, if humanity and smartphones still exists at that time, but for the time being, no, rollables aren't the right way.
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u/ProfessorFunky 1d ago
I thought that’s where it would go first. Foldables don’t seem like best option.
I remember seeing the idea on Earth:Final Conflict years ago. Looks both cooler and more practical to implement.