The world's first foldable phone is a hot mess [Royole FlexPai impressions]

The world's first foldable phone is a hot mess [Royole FlexPai impressions]

There's a lot of hype around foldable gadgets right now with Samsung and others just months away from launching their first folding phones. But a smaller flexible display company called Royole (not a typo) is getting ahead of them with the FlexPai (also not a typo). It's one of the few really interesting phones at CES because it gives us a very, very early glimpse of one of the year's big smartphone trends.

Early is probably the most generous adjective for what Royole is showing here. More accurately, it's a hot mess. The hardware is thick and bulky, and the software is pretty jacked astok as well. Royole says the FlexPai will be gone sell in China first, hence the Chinese software on this demo model.

This thing is supposed to be both a smartphone and a tablet, fulfilling the promise we've seen in concept videos for most of the past decade. Unfurl it for a 7.8-inch tablet-size display, fold it up for a more pocketable phone-sized experience. In reality, what Royole has built is a demonstration of just how hard a good foldable phone is going to be to build. Because this is not a good phone or a good tablet.

Instead, it's a worst-case scenario for all the compromises of a foldable hybrid gadget to start with. The FlexPai is big, plasticky, and sports enormous bezels, especially on the sides around its camera module. The screen is fairly chintzy feeling plastic because, of course, glass doesn't bend. And the hinge is rubberized in stark contrast to the glossy edges of the frame.

Next, this device—or at least the demo models here at CES—don't fully flatten out, and it feels mushy as a result. There's a slight curve to the display even when it's fully opened out, so there's that. And when it's folded in on itself with the aid of very strong magnets, it's gonna feel incredibly awkward to pocket compared to a standard 5 to 6-inch phone.

And then there's the software. Oh boy, where to start with this software? It's running Android 9 Pie with what Royole is calling Water OS. It's a lightly skinned version of Android like you might find on any other Chinese phone, packed to the gills with bundled apps. It's designed to adapt both the OS and the apps as the device moves between phone and tablet modes, which it does poorly.

That transition between folded and open is key to the FlexPai's main selling point, and it's such a mess right now. The device gets easily confused as it switches between opened and closed, often not knowing which side of the folded screen is supposed to be in use and muddling the distinction between landscape and portrait as well. Even for very early software, it's a shockingly janky experience that probably would drive me mad in short order if I was to use this as my daily driver.

For what it's worth, the spec sheet is your standard 2019 fare: Snapdragon 855, six or eight gigs of RAM, 128 or 256 gigs of storage, plus a 3970 milliamp-hour battery. That dual camera array combines 16- and 20-megapixel sensors behind f/1.8 lenses, and it seemed to work okay for a quick few selfies in the mixed-light Royole's booth here at CES.

So there's plenty of power onboard, even though the software here feels slapdash and just generally unoptimized. If you want a 7.8-inch tablet that can fold in half to just about fit in the pocket, well this shows the potential of that idea but also the immense technical hurdles that have kept Samsung busy for the past several years. The Royole FlexPai perfectly demonstrates how foldable tech just isn't there yet, and how instead of getting the best of both a phone and a tablet, you're actually just getting a device that's bad at being both of those two things.

That's it for now, subscribe for coverage of more, hopefully better foldable phones later in 2019. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.

Keywords

• Foldable gadgets
• Royole FlexPai
• CES 2019
• Smartphone trends
• Flexible display
• Hybrid gadget
• Android 9 Pie
• Water OS
• Snapdragon 855
• Foldable tech

FAQ

Q: What is the Royole FlexPai? A: The Royole FlexPai is one of the world's first foldable smartphones, designed to turn from a smartphone into a tablet with a 7.8-inch display when unfolded.

Q: How is the build quality of the Royole FlexPai? A: The FlexPai is big, plasticky, and features significant bezels. It uses a plastic screen and a rubberized hinge, which makes it feel less premium compared to traditional smartphones.

Q: Does the Royole FlexPai's software provide a smooth experience? A: No, the device's software, running on a customized Android 9 Pie called Water OS, is currently janky and unreliable, often struggling with transitioning between phone and tablet modes.

Q: What are the key specifications of the Royole FlexPai? A: It features a Snapdragon 855 processor, six or eight gigabytes of RAM, 128 or 256 gigabytes of storage, a 3970mAh battery, and a dual camera array with 16 and 20-megapixel sensors behind f/1.8 lenses.

Q: Is the Royole FlexPai a practical device to use daily? A: Given its current hardware and software issues, the FlexPai is not practical as a daily driver. It highlights the challenges of creating a reliable foldable device.