The rollable smartphones unveiled at CES 2021 could be an interesting upgrade for users when they eventually hit stores.
Tecno's rollable phone comes straight from the future
LG showed off its rollable smartphone, which has a display that slides out to reveal a larger, more tablet-like screen. TCL also previewed its rollable concept phone, which could go from a 6.7-inch phone to a 7.8-inch tablet. The larger screen size that phones like these offer could make them a tempting purchase.
"This design essentially allows you to keep a tablet in your pocket," said Carl Prouty, digital content strategist and brand spokesperson for Abt Electronics, in an email interview. "More screen real estate is great for anyone who multitasks on their phone. You can have a Word document open on half the screen and a web page for research on the other half. Or you can use the entire screen to watch a video when you're taking a break from work."
Details about the new rollable phones have been hard to come by. Both LG and TCL played it coy about their designs at CES, with LG showing off videos of the phone but not giving any product details. TCL also showed a video in which Tiago Abreu, director of the "X-Lab" at the TCL Industrial Design Center, claimed that the tablet can go from its external configuration to its large form factor with "a simple tap of a finger."
