31
The world’s first foldable phone is charmingly awful

The world’s first foldable phone is charmingly awful

5 years ago
Anonymous $L9wC17otzH

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/8/18174278/royole-flexpai-foldable-phone-android-ces-2019

The Royole FlexPai is the sort of device that companies rush out when they feel the absolute imperative to be first with some new technology. I don’t blame Royole — a five-year-old company literally founded for the purpose of developing and selling flexible displays — because it faced the existential threat of Samsung coming in and stealing its thunder with a rival foldable device. So Royole hurriedly threw the FlexPai together and let the world gawk at its wondrous, foldable awfulness.

I got to grips with the FlexPai today and I was amused by how dysfunctional most of its software was. But let’s talk hardware first. Measuring 7.8 inches diagonally, this is an Android tablet in its extended mode which becomes two, not just one, Android phones when it’s flexed closed. Yes, Royole is apparently a hyper-ambitious company. It provides two SIM slots and tries to provide an auto-detection system that only shows content on the half of the folded screen that you’re facing at any given time. One of the two phones is assigned as the primary, and its content spills out onto the full tablet when the device is opened.

The world’s first foldable phone is charmingly awful

Jan 9, 2019, 1:17am UTC
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/8/18174278/royole-flexpai-foldable-phone-android-ces-2019 > The Royole FlexPai is the sort of device that companies rush out when they feel the absolute imperative to be first with some new technology. I don’t blame Royole — a five-year-old company literally founded for the purpose of developing and selling flexible displays — because it faced the existential threat of Samsung coming in and stealing its thunder with a rival foldable device. So Royole hurriedly threw the FlexPai together and let the world gawk at its wondrous, foldable awfulness. > I got to grips with the FlexPai today and I was amused by how dysfunctional most of its software was. But let’s talk hardware first. Measuring 7.8 inches diagonally, this is an Android tablet in its extended mode which becomes two, not just one, Android phones when it’s flexed closed. Yes, Royole is apparently a hyper-ambitious company. It provides two SIM slots and tries to provide an auto-detection system that only shows content on the half of the folded screen that you’re facing at any given time. One of the two phones is assigned as the primary, and its content spills out onto the full tablet when the device is opened.