Or not… it really depends if you can find a use for one. Having got my hands on the FlexPai while at CES this year, I can report that they are awesome. Aesthetically, technically and theoretically – but the biggest test for flexible smartphones will be just how many consumers can actually justify getting one.
Royole is the company developing the FlexPai and they believe that there is a vast array of uses for their foldable phone, namely as a two-in-one tablet/phone before anything else.
The demonstration we went through at CES showed the transition between tablet and phone mode, and you can watch the operating system adapt to the change rather seamlessly.
The screen of the FlexPai bends 180-degrees around this rubbery hinge into an incredibly interesting wedge type shape. One of the representatives from Royole was doing his best to explain how compact it now is, with the ability to fit neatly into your pocket. I didn’t want to break it to him, but it’s a really tight fit… if a fit at all.
I was really impressed by the screen of the FlexPai but that was just about all it had to offer. It runs a decent mobile processor (Snapdragon 855) but still felt rather slow and bogged down.
While it may not be ready just yet, I found it really cool to get hands on with a foldable smartphone and to know that we’ll see them in the near future.
You can actually buy the FlexPai at the moment for ~$2,200 AUD, but I’d recommend that you hold out for further developments in this space.
