We have seen a couple of foldable phones in the market but none is like the LG Rollable. This device from LG is in a world of its own as it uses a rollable display or an expandable display. It does not fold, the display gets bigger by unrolling or expanding. Having teased this device at CES 2021, there are reports that the company will unveil this device by the end of this year. There have been many patents from LG which shows the workability of this device. Furthermore, LG’s latest patent explains how it will install a front camera on the phone.
Simply put, this device will not come with a front camera. LG designed this device in such a way that the rear camera can also be the selfie camera. We have seen this pattern in many dual display phones in the market. For LG, the only way it can achieve this is to add a small display on the rear. Like most dual-display smartphones, the LG Rollable will not have a front camera.
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The design patent revealing this decision was published in CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Office) on February 12. The design patent also shows that LG will install most of the external functions, including buttons, speakers, and microphones on the left-hand side of the phone, presumably to make room for the scrollable screen.
According to previous reports, the LG Rollable will come with very thin edges and a round display. The original size of the display can get up to 40% larger, even larger than many tablets. This device uses a rail system to make the sliding process smoother. On the back of the device, we have a triple camera setup.
According to reports, Samsung, TCL, and other companies are also studying similar devices. However, this technology is quite complex and it may take sometime before it arrives on the market. Nevertheless, there are speculations that Samsung will unveil a rollable phone this year.
It is important to note that this is only a patent. Like it is with all patents, there is no guarantee that this device will ever hit the market. In fact, most patents never see the light of day thus we can only keep our fingers crossed. It’s even harder to expect the LG Rollable to hit the market. This is because of the rumors that LG will quit the smartphone market.
