Well it seems that, in fact, “folding” is for the old one… The future is “rollable” and Xiaomi also wants to be in it!
Written by Damián García
The market has spoken and it seems that all the news roll-up mobiles will be the next big thing, and also the main attraction in 2021, of an industry that has not even yet what are the current folding models for like the Galaxy Z Fold2 or the Huawei Mate Xs.
All the players in the mobile market want to have their design roll-up when only three companies such as Motorola, Huawei and Samsung have dared to launch a foldable smartphone, and if the movements of Samsung or the Chinese TCL do not seem sufficient, the project LG’s B seems Very advanced and OPPO has even named a 2021 Model X which was shown in the prototype phase and which could arrive in the coming months.
Now it’s Xiaomi who shows us his progress with a spectacular and interesting roll-up smartphone design -or extensible- which would be called My Alpha R and that the colleagues of MSPowerUser already teach us in the renderings thanks, as always, to the excellent recreations of Let’sGoDigital.
This would be the Mi Alpha R, the convincing and spectacular rolling mobile from Xiaomi.
Know more: This is what LG’s first roll-up mobile looks like
The forgotten Mi MIX Alpha is taking place now!
It is obviously about very premature development, surely a continuation of what was a disgraced and forgotten Mi MIX Alpha in the drawers of a Xiaomi who didn’t dare sell it, but would now go ahead with it this “360 screen” design that could stretch to enlarge its size.
Sources say The idea of Xiaomi is none other than to show its strength, taking the lead with an expandable smartphone design that avoid the crease problem present on the screens of the Moto RAZR, Galaxy Z or Huawei Mate X, using these flexible OLED panels on a winding mechanism.
This would allow them to hide part of the panel, thus keeping this option. switch from smartphone to tablet but without these wrinkles, no duplication of screens or multiplication of cameras or other components that complicate the hardware.
The sketches that recreate the winding system designed by XIaomi.
As you will see the patent itself shows sketches of the operation of this winding system on some sort of rails, using a bracket behind the screen that would provide the stiffness expected in extended mode, capable of almost doubling the diagonal available.
How would this mechanism work? well it would be automatic and activated by a button, open or close the device to use it in its different formats.
In addition, surely already in a demonstration of possibilities, Xiaomi would also mount a second screen on the back terminal, giving it this aspect of the Mi MIX Alpha with a 360 screen that would offer various uses as a camera viewfinder thus avoiding the need for a front camera.
Obviously all this is only speculation and we only know the sketches published with the patent, requested several months ago and recently approved, without details on the material and simply showing that, for its part, Xiaomi also relies more on these roll-up mobiles than in the folding models that we have also seen without materializing
It remains to be seen whether in 2021 we will already be able to buy a rolling mobile, but they will arrive soon and from different brands, so we hope that this competition will bring us at least more attractive prizes than those shown by current folding mobiles… Don’t you think?
Know more: When can you (really) buy your first roll-up mobile
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