Foldable smartphones are talking points for many phone enthusiasts. In spite of mixed opinions, almost everyone agrees that phones with foldable displays are futuristic and here to stay. While Samsung appears to be leading in the foldable smartphone landscape, we have also seen recent innovations from other manufacturers like Huawei, Motorola, and TCL. Royole, the company which launched the world's first for-sale foldable phone, is now coming back after a short limbo and recently showcased its second foldable phone and an improved display. Royole FlexPai 2's display has better brightness and colors, and fewer bulges while the hinge gets an upgrade too.
Royole's latest 3rd-generation Cicada Wing FFD (fully flexible display) is the phone's most exciting feature. It is only 1/3rd in terms of thickness of the OG FlexPai's foldable display and has been tested for more than 200,000 bends. But despite the extensive stress due to opening and closing, Royole claims it should remain smooth and free from any crease. This is because of a new simulation model using which has been used to optimize the mechanical properties of the display and prevent phenomena like layer peeling.
The size and the aspect ratio of the new FlexPai foldable's display remain the same. It still measures 7.8-inches when fully open in a 4:3 configuration and 6.78-inches when folded outwards. Qualitatively, however, the Cicada Wing display also offers 50% more brightness and 400% more contrast than the Royole FlexPai's panel.
The display is also claimed to have improved viewing angles which reduce the color shift and brightness decay phenomena at angles more than 30º. Royole revealed that the Cicada Wing display has been made in partnership with ZTE so we can expect more phones to utilize this technology.
For a tremendous performance, the Royole FlexPai 2 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 and features faster LPDDR5 and UFS 3.0 storages than the previous device. The phone also features quad cameras and stereo speakers.
The pricing of the Royole FlexPai 2 wasn't revealed. It will be available in Q2 2020 so we can learn about the prices and availability of the different models.
If you'd like to check out Royole's first foldable phone, here's our hands-on of the smartphone shot at CES 2019:
Via: Engadget