At Tweakers we try to stay away from useless imagery, such as ‘launching’ a service or ‘rolling out’ an update. Launching is done with rockets and rolling out is of course done with carpet. But rolling out a smartphone could really become a possibility in the near future. Because there are now three manufacturers who have shown a concept and perhaps even more companies are working on it.

That is, after the foldable smartphone, the second step on the road to new forms for smartphones. The smartphone with a retractable or retractable screen has a hidden piece of screen in the housing that becomes visible when the screen is unrolled. As a result, you suddenly turn a screen into a larger screen if necessary.

Concepts of extendable smartphones To see what problem this solves, we can easily go back to the most famous phone presentation so far: that of the first iPhone in 2007. The Apple leader then tried to explain what the then new iPhone was a solution for. The problem, he argued, was in the bottom half of smartphone designs at the time.

Jobs: The problem is in the bottom half of these designs Because, he argued, the buttons sitting there are fixed and can’t adapt to apps. But every app wants a slightly different interface with different buttons. The solution to that was a phone with a ‘gigantic’ 3.5 “screen.

Now every smartphone has a large touchscreen, but there remains another problem: the screen ratio. Do you want to scroll through your Twitter feed or Facebook posts, the current smartphone screens from 19: 9 to 21: 9 fine, but when you start watching video, you often see black bars, because a lot of video material is 16: 9 or 18: 9. If you want to type a long message or read a long text, then a wider screen of, for example, 4 : 3.

In short, not only does each app want a slightly different interface, but each type of app also benefits from a slightly different screen ratio.

Today’s foldable phones only partially offer a solution, the point of a fold is that it allows two screen sizes and screen ratios Take the Galaxy Z Fold2 from Samsung; which has an extremely long 25 on the outside and a 5: 4 screen on the inside screen. If you want to watch a 16: 9 video, you can choose a version with large black bars on the side or a version with large black bars on the top and bottom.

The solution is a screen with an adjustable aspect ratio. Then you can, within certain limits, determine the screen ratio yourself. Or, even better, let the software determine the aspect ratio.

How it works A number of manufacturers have shown concepts of this technique. Oppo has demonstrated one, TCL – which you may know from the Alcatel brand – has shown several and LG has shown a teaser of such a phone.

The implementation between that of Oppo and TCL differs. Let’s start with Oppo; who presented the concept on his Inno Day 2020 earlier this week.

The video automatically starts on the right moment

The phone has a 6.7 “screen that rolls out on the right side to a 7.4” screen. That sounds like a small difference, but it isn’t. The screen has almost half the surface area after roll-out. The screen goes from 15, 5x7cm to 15, 5x 10, 6cm, which is from 108 square centimeters to 164 square centimeter.

That happens with something Oppo calls a ‘roll motor’. Activation can be done by swiping on the right side. Then it goes from the minimum width to the maximum width and back. Furthermore, a motor makes it possible for the software to choose a ratio itself. As an example, Oppo mentions that you watch a 16: 9 video on 16: 9, then the screen slides out a little to quickly show a notification.

The part of the screen that extends is rolled up in the housing; that roll has a diameter of 6.8 mm. As a result, it is not folded and that should ensure that no fold is visible.

The whole system is reinforced with a coating behind the screen and a metal system that interlocked. The system is of course possible by using a flexible OLED screen with a plastic substrate, as is usual with foldable smartphones.

The prototype that TCL showed in March works more or less the same. The TCL version has no motor. By pulling on the right side, the screen slides over the side, as shown in this gif. This makes it possible to make the screen surface approximately twice as large. Fewer details are known about the TCL model.

The least known is that of LG – but its release may be the closest. The phone is supposedly called Rollable and LG showed a glimpse at the end of the Wing smartphone presentation. LG has of course already showed a rollable TV. The rollable smartphone should appear next year.

In addition, there are more rumors. For example, the market leader Samsung would also work on such a model. That is obvious: Samsung makes flexible OLED panels that are necessary for such phones and jumps early on any trend to perpetuate the market leadership.

Why you should be able to slide out smartphones In practice this is the case with, for example, the Oppo X 2021. If you use it ‘normal’ it will have a 6.7 “screen with 20: 9 ratio. A 16: 9 video you will see on a diagonal of 5.6 “. But with the X 2021 the screen can be pulled out a bit for a 16: 9 ratio, making your video look at 7 “.

Calculation example Normal diagonal Bee 16: 9 Video Rollable Phone 6.7 “, 108 cm², 20: 9 7.0 “, 135 cm² Regular Phone 6, 7 :, 108 cm², 20: 9 5.6 “, 86, 4cm² The area to watch video then increases by almost 56 percent That’s a huge difference when it comes to watching videos – and there’s no hassle with black edges as a bonus. A huge advantage for those who use their phone a lot for watching videos.

There are also other obvious reasons for wanting to make such a phone that have nothing to do with technology . Brands such as Oppo and TCL would like to be seen as innovative and with new forms for smartphones, these Chinese companies are getting the necessary attention. That can boost sales of all models of those manufacturers, because of the brand recognition and the marketing power that comes from such models.

Moreover, besides Samsung, it is no coincidence that the manufacturers involved in the missed boat with foldable smartphones. Samsung, Huawei, Royole and Motorola have released multiple foldable models so far. That has some success, but it is a small part of the smartphone market. The foldable smartphones have also shown what you should pay attention to when producing such a phone. Because the release of foldable smartphones went anything but flawless.

Finally It is still a bit of speculation when these phones will come out. LG seems to be aiming for next spring and Samsung would also like to try something next year. The roll-up smartphone is really the next logical step after the foldable smartphone and can really add something.

There are also many question marks. How sturdy is the construction? Can the housing be made water resistant? Can a phone charge wirelessly with a screen that might be in front of the coil? What about the durability of such phones?

In addition, there are questions about their shape and operation, such as whether a motor is needed, whether the screen ratio should automatically adjust itself per app or application, and whether phones become much bigger or thicker from this mechanism. Those are all questions that will undoubtedly get an answer as soon as manufacturers start to ehhh … roll out this new type of smartphones.