LG Rollable
After LG's departure from the smartphone market, the company sold some of its never-marketed smartphones to its employees for an advantageous price. One of these smartphones that never hit the market is LG Rollable, what could have been the first rollable smartphone to end up in your hands.
A Korean guy managed to get his hands on LG Rollable by borrowing it from one of the employees of the brand and posted the review on YouTube.
LG Rollable was a device with extension of the display horizontally and has come so close from marketing that the final prototype that can be seen in the video is practically a complete and ready-to-use smartphone.| ); } The data sheet of the smartphone is high-end, at least it was when it should have reached the market:
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 RAM: 12GB ROM: starting from 256GB Weight: 285 grams Display: OLED with display expansion from 6.8 ″ to 7.4 ″ Battery: 4500mAh From the specifications just mentioned you can see how it could have become a respectable smartphone, able to put a spoke in the wheel of various smartphones of the time.
It is really a shame not to have seen it in action more closely, with its software able to modify the interface according to the unrolled size of the display and the innovative mechanism. We have had the opportunity to have a close look at Oppo's Rollable, the only competitor together with TCL in the realization of these prototypes which have
never been sold yet.
That said, all these innovations will be finally taken as a reference point for the mass production of rollable smartphones in 2023? Looking at how technology advances, we can hope for it.
Daily Authority: 🗞️ LG's Rollable phone reviewed
👋 Good morning! We’ve been on a Jean-Claude Van Damme spree lately, watching Hard Target, Bloodsport, and Kickboxer. I’m still not ready to rewatch Street Fighter, though.
LG’s Rollable phone gets reviewed
LG exited the smartphone business over a year ago, but it reportedly sold unreleased devices to employees. One of these devices was the LG Rollable, which likely would’ve been the first rollable smartphone on the market. Now, Korean YouTube channel Bulls Lab has posted a review, which you can view here.
What could’ve been
LG first teased the rollable device at its LG Wing launch event in late 2020, with a follow-up tease at CES 2021.The Wing was the first device in LG’s Explorer Project of innovative phones.The LG Rollable was teased as the second device in this project.However, LG exited the mobile business before the rollable phone could get a commercial launch.As the name implied, the LG Rollable had a screen that rolled out or extended from the main body. This way, you got a tablet-sized screen when needed. But retract the screen, and you’ve got a normal-looking phone.It was an intriguing alternative to top foldable phones like the Z Fold series.What’s the LG Rollable like to actually use?
Fortunately, Bulls Lab has put the device through its paces in a Korean-language video review.You can extend the 6.8-inch screen to 7.4 inches by swiping the screen laterally from left to right or by tapping an option in the side panel menu.The reviewer also placed a stack of three thick books next to the phone. But the Rollable was able to push them aside when extending the screen.LG does, however, offer a warning if you try to extend the screen while gripping it tightly.As for the screen quality? Well, there seems to be plenty of glare, and you can make out some wrinkles when it’s unfurled.Those who hate creases might not like the LG P-OLED screen, then. But the reviewer felt it was fine for a first-gen product.There are other quirks as well, such as capacitive volume keys, a SIM tray that’s only accessible by unfurling the screen, and secondary rear display functionality.Where to next?
The video is a great look at what could’ve been for LG — at least in the short term.If the foldable market showed us anything, it’s that second and third-generation products make great strides.So it seems likely that issues like display wrinkles and screen durability may have been tackled in follow-up models.Then again, there’s no guarantee we would’ve seen a Rollable 2 if LG’s mobile unit was still around today.Still, the form factor lives on as Oppo demonstrated with the X 2021 rollable concept last year. Our own Dhruv Bhutani spent two days with the device and came away with positive impressions.The fact that Oppo was willing to let users try it outside of controlled conditions suggested that the device was almost ready for prime time. But alas, nothing yet.Samsung is also working on the concept, according to Samsung Display videos and company patents.Here’s hoping one of these companies is brave enough to jump in.Thursday Thing
Car research firm Clunker Junker (h/t: Digg) has posted an interesting study showing the US cities and states where EV charging causes the most stress. The company collected geo-tagged tweets related to EV charging and then used a stress detection tool called TensiStrength to identify posts with signs of range anxiety.
It turns out that Montana has the most range anxiety out of all 50 states, according to the study.Kansas, on the other hand, was the state with the least range anxiety.When it comes to cities, the study found that Oakland, California had the most range anxiety.On the other end of the spectrum, Virginia Beach, Virginia apparently had the least range anxiety.According to the study, EV charging stress rates for the US states and cities vary between 20% and 30%.So it’s not a huge difference between the top and bottom performers.Here’s to finding an EV charger!
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