Do you prefer a phone with a screen that folds or slides as you might have the choice soon considering TCL appears to be working on a smartphone with a pull-out display. In the past few months, multiple companies have announced foldable phones, but TCL might take a different approach to the trend.
While it remains to be seen when mainstream consumers will actually start to buy foldable phones, this hasn’t stopped the likes of Huawei, Motorola, and Samsung from releasing them. As to be expected, the common element with all of these devices is a screen that folds or unfolds to either become more portable or functional. In fact, the latest one only arrived last week when Samsung launched its Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone.
TCL now appears set to take a different approach to the foldable market by focusing on a slide-our design, and CNET has the images to prove it. Technically, this is still a flexible display, and in this sense, it is no different to the other foldable phones. However, the slide or pull-out mechanism does make it physically different. Essentially, the user will pull out the display from within the phone housing, to expand the display’s surface area and turning the device into something more similar to a tablet. The new slide-out design was reportedly expected to be showcased at MWC 2020 later this month, but the show was recently cancelled due to Coronavirus concerns. It now remains unclear when it will be unveiled.
Better To Pull Out Than To Fold?
One of the major concerns with foldable phones is their durability as each individual fold has the potential to collectively add up, resulting in the screen (and phone) becoming unusable sooner than expected. For a slide-out design to prove any better, it will need to be more resilient to wear and tear, and that remains unclear right now. For example, it appears that TCL’s phone still uses a single piece of flexible glass and therefore will still fold to some degree. How much of a degree will be the question but there’s no escaping the fact the second display needs to be stored tightly behind the first and that will put pressure on the screen.
One advantage TCL’s design might have over the competition is the neutral phone design. So far, all foldable phones have been a little unnatural in the sense that the main phone has either been smaller or thinner than typical smartphones. TCL’s design appears to be far more natural in this respect, making it look and feel like a typical smartphone when used with the single screen. Albeit one that’s likely to be a little thicker and comes with a secondary display hidden behind the first. In either case, there’s no suggestion this phone is anywhere near ready for consumer release as TCL has showcased foldable phone designs before, and they have yet to hit the market.
More: Foldable Phone Screens: Game Changing or Just a Fad?
Source: CNET
