TCL Designs Smartphone With Sliding Panels; Challenge To Foldable Phones?

TCL Sliding Smartphone Design

Several companies have begun pitching ideas for the foldable smartphone designs. While Samsung, Huawei, and Motorola have already launched a foldable smartphone, Apple, TCL, and a couple of other companies have patented foldable designs. But now, TCL has patented a new sliding design for a smartphone.

CNET reports a new slide-out design is unlike anything we've seen so far. The novel design is capable of sliding out without an actual hinge. The purpose is to give the users much more screen space, as much as a tablet. The point is, users won't be carrying a tablet but will have a display like one.

 

How Does It Work

The leaked images reveal a usual smartphone, which then turns into a tablet once the screen is pulled out. Although there are no precise details and TCL has refrained from commenting, the concept phone may use one continuous display, with curved screens on either side.

The image also reveals that there's a slight break in chassis (between the center of the phone and the dual selfie camera on the right side). This break is what creates the slide, where the user can pull the screen for a tablet effect. The report speculates that the sliding smartphone has one portion of the flexible display overlapping or bending over the other.

TCL Challenges Foldable Phones

This design would make the phone thicker, but users would still get a tablet display. The rear part of the TCL concept phone reveals the extend portion with its non-glass back to support the display. The Samsung Galaxy Fold, Moto Razr, and other foldable phones in the market have a lot of issues with the folding mechanism, especially with the hinge and the display.

The new TCL sliding phone is intriguing because it's giving users a tablet view with a device sized like a smartphone. Plus, there's no complication of the bending mechanism. It could surpass problems like the crease with the foldable design, and much more.

If the MWC event had gone according to plan, TCL would have revealed the new sliding phone. However, the event was canceled due to fears over coronavirus. However, even before the organizers had announced the cancellation, TCL had withdrawn from the event citing similar fears.