In collaboration with parent company Lenovo, Motorola showed off a bendable Android smartphone for the second time in seven years. The so-called Adaptive Display Concept was perhaps the highlight of Lenovo Tech World 2023 (Austin, Texas).
Is it time to forget about the foldable smartphone or are we headed for the absolute endgame for smartphones as we know them today?
Motorola flexes Android smartphone around your wrist
Motorola’s prototype consists of a 6.9-inch OLED display that can bend. This is a so-called pOLED screen with Full HD Plus resolution (2228 x 1080 pixels). Yes, and thus ultimate flexibility.
So through its bendability, it is possible to put a phone upright, use it as a kind of gateway and wear it as an insane armband.
Personally, I see it as a smartwatch with a much larger screen. Although that 6.9-inch screen is not fully usable, as 4.6-inches will eventually remain if you actually use it as a bracelet.
No external hinge accompanies the design, as the Android smartphone consists of only one screen. We’ll have to make do with that, as Motorola and Lenovo aren’t releasing much more about the hardware.
Story from 2016 gets sequel
Motorola and Lenovo are not doing this trick for the first time. In 2016, we were first introduced to a bendable smartphone from the two brands. Although that was anything but impressive.
That model could only bend around your wrist, reportedly made an obnoxious creaking sound while doing so and looked a lot less sexy.
(Image: Motorola)
Still, I don’t think that adds to the potential of such an Android smartphone. Yes, a foldable smartphone is bold and yes, a bendable phone might be even more bold.
Personally, I just think that, as with the foldable smartphone, the hype will be over pretty quickly. I actually wonder after a few minutes what happens if you lean your arm on a table, for example, or how likely it is that I will lose this thing off my wrist.
It’s a concept, it’s a lot of fun, but I’m afraid it’s going to stop there for now.
