At its INNO Day 2020 event last year, OPPO wowed us with its own take on the rollable smartphone idea with a device called OPPO X 2021 The company went to great lengths explaining the engineering and innovation that went into making it, and since then, multiple hands-on videos showcasing the cool device have surfaced online. However, it appears that OPPO’s rollable device is still in the concept stage and might not launch as a commercial device anytime soon.

BBC Technology reporter Chris Fox recently went hands-on with the OPPO X 2021 and shared his experience in a video that also featured OPPO UK Product Manager Neil Monger. Fox mentioned in the video that OPPO is not going to sell its rollable phone anytime soon. As to why, he got the answer for it from the OPPO executive himself, which is as follows:

“OPPO believes in only bringing products to the market when they meet a really strict product testing process. And at the moment, we haven’t pushed this device through that just yet. It’s to show our innovation and our forward-thinking into new technologies, and just showcasing what the future of a smartphone factor could actually be in the coming years.”

this expanding smartphone concept can grow and shrink on demand – I went hands-on for @bbcclick #technology pic.twitter.com/fbKvaqadnm

— Chris Fox (@thisisFoxx) March 5, 2021

As for the device itself, it features a flexible OLED display that measures 6.7-inch, and when unrolled via a dynamic scrolling frame, you get 7.4-inches of screen real estate. There is a side button on which you can swipe to extend and retract the flexible panel, changing the form factor between a tablet and phone. But a rollable display also means there is no selfie camera on the phone.

OPPO's rollable phone looks really impressive though!

OPPO has also optimized its ColorOS skin to acclimatize and take advantage of the extra screen space as the devices switches between two form factors. There is a single imaging sensor and two ToF 3D cameras at the back for AR/VR features.

oppo x 2021

Aside from OPPO, LG has also showcased its upcoming rollable phone, and so has TCL, and that too, in multiple form factors. But none of them have made it into the hands of consumers as a commercially available device yet. In the meanwhile, Samsung continues to dominate the foldable smartphone segment with devices like the Galaxy Z Fold2, while HUAWEI also remains in the game, with its latest offering being the Mate X2.