The Samsung ‘Flex Slidable’ display demoed at CES 2022
The best thing about slidable displays is that they make smartphones look like regular devices, until they start sliding out. They don’t make them nearly as thick as foldable smartphones, nor do they look as odd as foldable phones do when folded. That’s why many people think that rollable smartphones are the way to go. Only time will tell, but the tech that Samsung showed off does look interesting. The prototype device you can see in the video (courtesy of SamMobile) embedded below does remind us of the OPPO X 2021. You can use the phone normally, but when you press a button, the display expands to the right. In this particular demo, app shortcuts appear, but that extra screen real estate will be usable in any way you want.
The very first commercially available rollable smartphone is expected to launch this year
A lot of companies have patented rollable smartphone designs, including Samsung. Chances are that we’ll see the very first commercially available rollable smartphone this year. Well, it’s possible we’ll see a couple of them. The aforementioned OPPO X 2021 worked really well, based on the content provided by the company, and the very few people who managed to get their hands on the device. That only shows that OPPO is close to offering the device to consumers. Samsung is obviously on its way too, which is not surprising. Samsung is the leader of the foldable smartphone market at the moment, and it’s not even close. The company makes displays that the vast majority of flagship smartphones use, so it’s safe to assume it will be one of the first to deliver a rollable smartphone. Samsung is no stranger to innovation, quite the contrary.