This isn’t your traditional flip phone, though. This phone from Oppo has a foldable 7-inch screen. That’s right, you can fold it completely in half to make it more compact.
It’s still in the prototype stage, but supposedly Oppo has been working on this concept device since August 2015. According to the rumor, a working prototype was made available in February. The leaked image gives you a good idea of how it works, but check out the video on this website for a better visual.
Unfortunately we don’t have any other information about the phone, other than it runs Android. We don’t even know when it might be available.
Oppo isn’t the only company working on foldable phones and screen technology. Samsung has already shown various prototypes of foldable displays over the years, and it’s rumored that the Korean giant will launch its first foldable phone, the Galaxy X, next year.
Although Oppo isn’t well known here in the United States, the company is a worldwide powerhouse, thanks to China. According to IDC, the company ranked fourth in terms of worldwide market share during the first quarter 2016.
Oppo is no a stranger to innovation, either. Back in 2014, Oppo introduced the N3 smartphone with a rotating camera, so you could use the same high-quality lens at the rear or the front of the device. Back in February, the company demonstrated an optical image stabilization smart sensor that basically eliminates any camera shake. It also demonstrated its Super VOOC fast charging tech that can charge a 2,500mAh battery from 0 to 100 percent in only 15 minutes.
Of course, there is always the possibility this leaked device isn’t even real, so we’re hoping Oppo will openly talk about it soon and tell us more about its intentions. If Oppo can launch its first foldable phone around the same time as Samsung’s Galaxy X, 2017 could be an exciting year for mobile.
