The worlds very first commercially available folding-screen phone wasnt made by Samsung, Huawei or Motorola– it was the Royole Flexpai, a gadget that we called “charmingly horrible.” However in March, Royole promised to refine the idea with the brand-new FlexPai 2, and the business is officially introducing that phone in China today starting at 9,988 yuan, or approximately United States $1,471.
And while the company is primarily just sharing renders instead of photos today, you can see a demonstration of the phone at roughly 38 minutes into the companys discussion:
Aside from hinge and screen toughness– the companys score it at 1.8 million bends, but bend tests are never ever the entire story– the most significant concern is probably the software application, which has actually been the Achilles heel of more than one folding phone before.
That 7.8-inch screen might be a weak spot, though: Royale states nothing about glass, so its presumably plastic– and at a rather lower 1920 x 1440 resolution than its Samsung and dual-screened Microsoft rivals. These days, thats a pretty cinema for that couple of pixels. And of course, were discussing a single, fully-exposed screen that youll be folding in half, with nothing to speak of on the other side of the phone.
There, Royoles assuring its “waterOS 2.0” will intelligently split the screen across several apps, let you drag and drop in between them, and utilize the folded screen let you and your photography subject line up the ideal portrait. waterOS 2.0 is based upon Android 10, the business says.
The rest of the specs appear fairly competitive: a flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor; 8GB or 12GB of RAM; 256GB or 512GB of storage, a 4450mAh battery, and 5G assistance, with an array of 4 cams (64MP wide, 16MP ultrawide, 8MP with 3x optical zoom, and a 32MP “picture” cam for selfies, though all four electronic cameras are facing you anyhow). Theres also a pair of stereo speakers, two SIM card slots, Wi-Fi 6 and USB-C fast charging.
It looks relatively smooth? At 6.3 mm thick when flat (12.8 mm folded), its not almost as thin as the dual-screen Microsoft Surface Duo, however it sounds thinner than Samsungs Galaxy Z Fold 2s 6.9 mm frame (including the camera) and bulging 16.8 mm folded hinge. Royole declares its brand-new specifically developed hinge has “no gap,” which apparently is PR-speak for a very little space of 1mm approximately.
Well have more thoughts when we can take a real phone for a spin; in the meanwhile, heres the businesss product page. The 12GB/ 512GB model will cost 11,588 yuan, or roughly $1,707.
And of course, were talking about a single, fully-exposed screen that youll be folding in half, with nothing to speak of on the other side of the phone.
At 6.3 mm thick when flat (12.8 mm folded), its not nearly as thin as the dual-screen Microsoft Surface Duo, but it sounds thinner than Samsungs Galaxy Z Fold 2s 6.9 mm frame (consisting of the camera) and bulging 16.8 mm folded hinge. Royole claims its new specifically designed hinge has “no gap,” which apparently is PR-speak for an extremely small space of 1mm or so.
This might be a photo of the actual phone, from the demonstration. All other pictures appear to be renders.Image: Royole
