As the world of foldable smartphones steadily grow, rumours about an Oppo foldable phone have been around all throughout. However, the closest that we appear to have come to is a uniquely styled smartphone with a rollable display that expands from a smartphone to a tablet at the touch of a button. While that itself is quite appealing, that’s not all that Oppo appears to have been up to when it comes to out of the box innovation. Recent reports suggest that the first Oppo foldable phone is now slated to launch in the coming months – as early as April 2021 and latest by June 2021.
Reports about the Oppo foldable phone has been around for a while. Now, a new piece of information coming from China (via this Weibo post) has suggested that plans for the first Oppo foldable phone are now concretely in place, and the device will be launched within one to three months’ time. Not a lot of other specifications have been revealed yet, but it can be safe to expect that Oppo will have a trick or two up its sleeve to attempt something unique with its first foldable phone – and not just stick to the already tested inward folding smartphone design that has been popularised by Samsung’s foldable phone series.
Take this concept, as an example. While so far we have seen companies such as Samsung and Huawei try to maximise screen space with their multiple display foldable smartphone setup, the Oppo slide-phone concept in partnership with Japanese design studio Nendo had this unique triple folding layout. This would collapse a traditional clamshell smartphone into a compact device that can easily fit into one palm. On the outside, when folded, the concept had a 1.5-inch basic monochrome display that could display notifications and let users control basic features such as music playback or quick preset responses to text messages.
However, it isn’t clear yet if it’s too early to dream of such concepts to become a commercial, practical reality. The Oppo rollable phone concept has already been labelled as one that won’t be launched for the public any time soon due to the viability of its sturdiness. However, the company will have a chance to stand out and do things the right way if the first Oppo foldable phone can ace the durability part and provide features that are more practical than flashy.
