That’s how close LG’s Rollable came to being a real phone | Jobs Vox

LG was supposed to respond to Samsung’s foldable device by releasing another phone with an unusual shape after The Wing. At CES 2021, the company confirmed that it was working on a phone with a rotating display, which it said would be available later that year. Its latest models, such as the Wing, failed to gain traction and never got around to releasing the device before shutting down its mobile business. But now, a hands-on video by Korean tech columnist BullsLab shows just how close LG is to launching its ‘Rollable’ phone.

While the Wing has a screen that rotates on top of a small screen underneath, the Rollable is designed to have a screen that extends until the phone becomes a small tablet. In the video, you can see how fast the device feels and how quickly it starts to expand after the YouTuber swipes the screen with three fingers. What is displayed on the screen, even the animated wallpaper, is automatically adjusted. At one point, the controller places three books next to the phone, demonstrating that the motor is strong enough to move the stack when extended.

The back panel of the phone acts as a secondary display that houses a few widgets like the camera, calendar, and music in addition to the extendable main screen. If you launch the camera app from this secondary screen, you’ll be able to take selfies without turning on your main phone.

Based on the device reviewed by BullsLab, the Rollable would have a Snapdragon 888 CPU, up to 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. These were high-end specs that put the Rollable in the same category as flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S21.

Since LG no longer has a mobile phone business, there is little or no chance of rolling out the Rollable. It’s worth noting that Oppo also introduced a foldable phone in 2021, but that was just a prototype and we haven’t heard anything about it since then.