Oppo’s latest technological innovation is a concept phone with a rollable display

Not that it’s the first brand to do it or anything but there’s something very special about Oppo’s just announced – or rather, teased – rollable concept phone. Oppo is calling it the Oppo X 2021 and with it, it’s promising a phone that can, as if magically, transform from a 6.7-inch phone to a 7.4-inch tablet. The real kicker is – and that’s the real magical bit about it – that the Oppo X2 2021 isn’t limited to those two size options. It can do all the sizes in between and if Oppo’s “Inno Day 2020” demo is anything to go by, it can do all this effortlessly – at the flick of a button.

“The Oppo X 2021 rollable concept handset is the latest achievement of Oppo’s R&D in flexible display and structural stacking, bringing users more natural interactive experience,” Oppo said in a press statement.

All this is easier said than done but Oppo believes its up for the challenge. That’s possibly why it’s ready to talk about the proprietary technology that has gone behind in making the Oppo X 2021’s one-of-its-kind variable OLED display. There are in fact three technologies that drive the whole thing.

The OLED display – which is likely plastic – has a Warp Track high-strength screen laminate for, as the name suggests, strength without compromising on the aesthetics, which is to say that it’s also supposedly super thin. Underneath lies the Roll Motor powertrain that does all the leg work letting you pull out the extra ounce of display from within the confines thereby also avoiding instances of any visible creases or lines that current generation folding devices are infamous for. All this advanced machinery sits on top of a 2-in-1 dynamic plate made of both fixed and movable parts.

The Oppo X 2021’s form factor has diverse use cases. One of them is recording and watching videos in the size and aspect ratio one would prefer and the rollable display will accordingly be able to adapt to these use cases. Software will also make or break this concept phone though with more and more foldables coming up, more and more developers are keenly watching this space so there’s lots of potential.

That said, it’s still very early days for the Oppo X 2021 with Oppo promising no release dates. Oppo isn’t talking about the specs either. Chances are we may never even see it in the market in its current form. But whatever be the case, what’s important is that phones are getting exciting again.