What They Say
The Verge got hold of the FlexPai 2 that Royole released recently in China (Watch a demo of Royole’s new folding phone, on sale today for roughly $1,500) the blog had a look at the unit which has a 7.8″ 1920 x 1440 (4:3 308ppi) display and operates as two displays at 5.5″ 1440 x 900 (16:10) and a 5.4″ 1440 x 810 with 16:9 aspect ratio. The different aspect ratios are because one side has the cameras. It was not clear to the blog whether the surface of the display is glass or plastic and a representative wouldn’t confirm whether it was plastic or glass, only saying it’s “composed of ~100 micro-nano materials.”. They also said that it is “shatterproof and functional after close to two million folds”. The blog believes it is plastic.
The FlexPai 2 has a Snapdragon 865 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, and a 4,450mAh battery. The Verge sees it as much better than the original device. The new one costs 9,998 yuan (?$1500).
What We Think
This is clearly a better device than the original FlexPai. I think that it’s extremely hard to build flexible displays and it’s also extremely hard to make flexible devices. To do both at the same time would test even a behemoth such as Samsung, so I would be nervous that Royole could do both. I also wouldn’t consider buying a folding device like this that looks as though it would be very easy to damage when not in use. Still, Royole continues to develop and we reported a month ago on a plan to build a new fab in China for flexible OLEDs, so its investors seem confident. (BR)
