12 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 73
like any of today’s smartphones, but behind its 6.7in
display is another inch-plus of display stored around
the backs and rolls out to expand to 7.8 inches.
According to TCL, the mechanism is powered by “a
very simple pushrod motor that works with gesture
controls” and even seeing it in action without a
working motor or screen, it was kind of magical.
It’s very much a ‘now you see it now you don’t’
kind of thing and it presents a unique new direction
for foldables that solved the biggest issue: the hinge
crease. Of course, it raises numerous interface and
multitasking questions that TCL isn’t prepared to
demonstrate just yet, but it contends that extending
display is easier “from a UI/UX perspective” than
folding the display. “Because you’re not taking the
screen and then holding it this way or holding it this
way, but you’re just extending,” TCL said, “so it’s
keeping a standard aspect ratio, kind of like when
you do a screen share from your computer.”
Three for the show
If TCL’s rollable phone is ‘standard’, however, its trifold
tablet is anything but. The firm has combined two
different hinges to create a display that unfolds like a
pamphlet, with three panels becoming one. The demo
unit we saw technically worked, but like the rollable
phone, it was far from a finished product. TCL’s vision
is to once again turn a normal-sized 6.5in phone into
a 10in tablet. To accomplish the dual-fold, TCL uses
two different hinge technologies, Dragon Hinge and
Butterfly Hinge, to “ensure smooth folding inside and
out with a minimal gap”.
