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LG confirms its rollable phone is coming this year (Updated)
- LG has teased its rollable phone at its CES 2021 event.
- A video briefly shows the device’s screen retracting back into the body.
- LG has since confirmed that it’s launching this year.
Update: January 12 2021 (7:22 AM ET): LG gave us a closer (but still fleeting) look at its upcoming rollable smartphone during its CES event yesterday. It didn’t give us any more details at the time, but a company spokesperson has since confirmed that the device is indeed coming this year.
“Our management wanted to show that it is a real product, as there were many rumors around the rollable phone,” LG spokesperson Ken Hong told Nikkei Asian Review. “As it is released at CES 2021, I can tell that it will be launched this year.”
It isn’t a real surprise to hear that the device is launching in 2021, as it was first teased last year anyway. Furthermore, at least one outlet has suggested a March 2021 launch window.
Original article: January 11 2021 (9:30 AM ET): CES 2021 has essentially kicked off, and LG held its own event as part of the all-digital conference. The company showed off TVs and appliances, but it also had one more exciting tease on offer as it briefly showed off its rollable smartphone.
LG showed the rollable phone at the very end of the event, with the device being held in landscape orientation. We can clearly see the top of the screen retracting back into the rest of the phone via a presumably motorized mechanism, as the screen goes from tablet size to smartphone form factor. Check out the clip below for a better idea of how it looks.
It seems like the LG rollable phone display will expand from the right hand side when the phone is held in portrait mode. This echoes the likes of the OPPO X 2021 concept rollable, which also expands from the right hand side.
LG also showed the rollable mechanism from a slightly different angle earlier in the press conference, giving us a good idea of the size difference between smartphone and tablet modes. Check it out below.
This isn’t the first time LG has teased the rollable smartphone either, as the brand gave us a fleeting glimpse of the mechanism at the Wing launch event. Either way, it looks like the next phone in the Explorer Project is inching ever closer to release.