Looking back at the development history of mobile phone screens, from small screen button phones, to candy bar bottom buttons, to no buttons, the screen-to-body ratio is getting higher and higher. It can be said that full screens are the future trend, and when the development of under-screen cameras is in trouble, folding screens have become the new favorite of mobile phone manufacturers. Just recently, OPPO announced that it will launch its first folding screen in April after the Find X3. This time, there will be another big player in the folding screen market. Let’s find out more about it with Xiao Hei.
Scroll screen shelved, OPPO switched to folding screen
OPPO X 2021 display
Last year, OPPO announced its new concept phone at the Future Technology Conference—— OPPO X 2021, the scroll-like retractable screen has become a hot topic. This is a very bold attempt, and it also left a deep impression on people. You can freely stretch and push back to control the screen size, and switch from 6.7 inches to 7.4 inches at will, taking the flexible screen to its extreme.
The scroll screen allows us to see the possible large-screen mobile phones in the future, but the technical difficulty can be imagined. Shen Yiren, former vice president of OPPO, also said on Weibo that at this stage, such a screen does not bring an improvement in user experience, and the durability of the screen, final thickness, creases on the screen, etc. are all very important issues. .
Recently, OPPO announced another folding screen patent of its own, and predicted that it will be unveiled in April. Although it is not the OPPO X 2021 that everyone expected, it can also be seen that OPPO has not given up on developing OLED flexible screen. What kind of surprises can OPPO bring us this time when it joins the folding screen market?
Introduction to OPPO’s folding screen patent
OPPO’s folding screen mobile phone chooses to fold up and down. The folding machine announced by OPPO in 2019 was an external folding method, but this folding method would make the flexible screen very fragile, thus greatly reducing the life of the screen. Therefore, in this patent, OPPO chose to fold inward, and when it is stored, the screen is arc-shaped. Coupled with the protection of the casing, the durability is greatly improved.
OPPO folding screen rendering
In terms of hinge selection, OPPO uses a bi-metal spiral hinge. When folded, the hinge part of the screen will not fully fit, causing the screen to remain A certain arc. This design is not only to increase durability, but also to make the screen stretch more smoothly.
When we use the folding screen, we definitely don’t want to hear the clicking sound. The double-hinge design also solves this problem well. It also allows users to fix the phone at 30-degree, 60-degree, 90-degree and 120-degree angles without affecting normal use.
Technical difficulties, opponents are already ahead
Long before OPPO, Huawei and Samsung had launched their own folding screen mobile phones, which are now sold on their official websites. Compared with OPPO’s design, let’s also take a look at the differences between Huawei and Samsung’s folding screens.
Huawei Mate Compared with OPPO's foldable screen, Mate X2 has a larger screen. For users who like large screens, Huawei's foldable screen will undoubtedly be very exciting. In addition, Huawei's double wedge design means that there will be no gaps after the screen is folded, and the thickness of both ends of the phone will be the same.
OPPO's hinge design is to ensure the durability of the screen, so the thickness of the hinge will be slightly higher than the other side, but whether the thickness is uniform for up and down folding will not particularly affect the use experience.
The advantage of folding the Mate X2 screen inwards compared to folding up and down is that users can use both tablets and mobile phones. Information can be displayed on both the inner and outer screens, making it applicable to a wider range of daily scenarios, and the inner screen can also be well protected. But everything has two sides. The internal screen needs to be unfolded before it can be used, which actually increases the cost of use for users. The design of two screens also takes up a lot of internal space, making it difficult to reduce the weight and thickness.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G rendering
OPPO’s design is similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5G. The advantage of folding up and down is that it makes the overall model look very compact. Portability is taken to the extreme. Samsung chose a hidden hinge. When folded and closed, there will be an obvious axis arc at the hinge. OPPO uses a sliding type, and the hinge can be pulled out separately, which also makes the phone look smoother after being folded and closed. Samsung only has 75 degrees and 115 degrees at fixed points.
What should the folding screen look like under the general trend?
In addition to OPPO, Huawei and Samsung, many other manufacturers also have their own patented designs for folding screens. With the screen-to-body ratio approaching saturation, folding screens are undoubtedly a better development trend in the future. However, there are many issues that are worth thinking about. The first one is the significance of folding screens to consumers. We must know that the most important thing about mobile portable devices is portability and functional practicality. So what should the folding screen of the future look like?
First of all, on the screen, whether it is folded up and down or left and right, what is difficult to avoid is the crease and lifespan. This can be said to be a very fatal shortcoming in user experience. Future designs should consider how to hide the crease. , and extend the service life as much as possible. Xiaohei feels that the internal and external folding screen brings greater resolution, but also brings problems such as image quality, power consumption, weight, etc. If these can be solved, then the dual experience of mobile phones and tablets is also a very wonderful idea. As for the up-and-down folding, if the model can be compressed to its ultimate size, it can also have a great portable experience.
Then in terms of functionality, special screens should be paired with unique application functions to reflect practicality. Dual screens inside and outside undoubtedly increase the user's choice cost. How to handle dual-screen information is an issue that manufacturers must consider. Foldable mobile phones need to have functions that are different from ordinary candy bars in order to be more popular among consumers.
At present, OPPO’s folding screen mobile phone is still speculative, and it is still unknown what functions it will integrate. The folding screen is a wonderful technological breakthrough, and there is still a lot of imagination for the future development of mobile phones. Space, every folding screen mobile phone will bring new experience improvements. Xiaohei is very much looking forward to what kind of surprises OPPO will bring.
Picture source: Letsgodigital, Huawei official website, Samsung official website