Tecno is a big part of the smartphone scene in many developing markets, but it doesn't mean that they're not also putting some work into innovating. The brand is doing a good job working towards being taken as seriously as other major smartphone manufacturers.
This time around, they've shown off a rollable concept phone called the Tecno Phantom Ultimate. It can give you more screen real estate, similar to how a foldable does, but this uses a rollable screen instead, and to be honest, I might be sold on the execution of the concept.
The Tecno Phantom Ultimate Is An Impressively Built “Rollable”
We've already gotten hints based on patents everywhere, that the next major smartphone form factor will end up being devices with screens that get bigger by rolling out from a reel somewhere in the device. At MWC 2024, we got a hands-on look at the Phantom Ultimate, a good look at what the future might look like.
Pressing a button lets The device's screen go from 6.55 to 7.11 inches in 1.3 seconds. When rolled up, the screen wraps around the left edge, providing a small rear display for notifications, and that can be a viewfinder for selfies. The screen specs aren't astounding, with a 2296 x 1596 resolution (388 PPI) and 1100 nits of peak brightness. However, it is an LTPO AMOLED with a max refresh rate of 120Hz. The device is also only 9.93 mm thick, which isn't impressive for the average smartphone but is for a new form factor.
Spec-wise, it has the high-end MediaTek Dimensity 9000+. It has only a 3,000 mAh battery inside, and we don't know much else about the specs, but for the most part, it probably doesn't matter. There's no indication that Tecno plans to send this device to the production line. They showed off the rollable/foldable Phantom Vision V concept over a year ago, and nothing came out of that. But these kinds of devices show that rollables can be a thing.
Rollable Smartphones Fix Some Of The Problems We Have With Foldables
Rollable phones might be the future, and this isn't me being a sensationalist. There's something about the tactile satisfaction we get from flipping a phone open and closed; flip phones were reincarnated as clamshell foldables, so it's not too harsh to recognize. However, rollables do a good job of eliminating some of the downsides of foldables.
The Phantom Ultimate is only a concept device. Still, it has a sub-10mm thickness, which even the Honor Magic V2, the thinnest foldable available, only just matches after half a decade of foldables in the market. And besides being more comfortable to hold and sexier to look at, they should also eliminate the major problem, a crease, since there won't be a single axis that the display folds.
Will Rollables Be The Future?
Rollables look primed to be the next stage of the mobile form factor evolution. Foldables are great, as they provide access to larger device form factors with the flip of a hinge, but they have some downsides: they're expensive, thick, have creases, and need to split their internals between two halves of the phone. Each of these might be solved by well-designed smartphones with rollable screens.
We can see Tecno's first workings on getting a device with a rollable screen to market. Oppo and other companies have shown concepts, but we also know that Samsung is doing some work in this direction. In both cases, we have no idea when a device might make its way into the hands of consumers, but we're excited about what the future might hold.
