Foldable Phone is no longer a concept about which people are fascinated, there are many foldable phones available in the market by mega brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei. But foldable phone technology is very recent as compared to other advanced technologies. The point of interest is that the world’s first foldable Android phone was not made by any renowned company. But it was launched by a company named Royole which is a Chinese company having headquarters both in the USA and China.
Royal FlexPai: The World’s First Foldable Phone
Royole’s first foldable phone was the Royal FlexPai was introduced in 2018 and was a seminal device in this regard as it has marked its name as the world’s first commercially available foldable phone. Although it was not as refined and advanced as the foldable phones are today. But it was almost an impossible expectation from a company like Royole.
Design and Build
The Royal FlexPai’s display was a 7.8-inch AMOLED screen that could be folded into two slices. Which makes it a compact smartphone from a tablet-sized device. The screen was made of a flexible plastic substrate that helps it to bend without breaking. Its resolution was 1920 x 1440 after unfolding which was very useful for multitasking, gaming, and media consumption. The design of Royal FlexPai was very astonishing and stood out in the market.
Due to the first try, the phone was not perfectly user-friendly, it was very bulky and uncomfortable due to its inability to fold completely. The hinge mechanism was not as sleek and functional as the devices like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and many others have today. Due to its thickness after folding, the device does not remain user-friendly and slim.
Performance
The FlexPai was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 chipset, making it competitive in terms of performance for its time. It came with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and storage options of 128GB or 256GB, which could be expanded via microSD. The device also supported 5G connectivity, another forward-looking feature.
The device was Android-based, having a layered UI version named Water OS. The Water OS was built by considering all the flexibility conditions. However, many users complained that the UI experience was not good, and they were facing many lags while using it.
Camera Setup
In the camera section, Royole’s FlexPai came with a 16MP wide-angle and a 20MP telephoto lens. Due to its foldable design, there was no requirement for separate cameras for the front and back sides. Users could just fold the device in various ways to use the same cameras for either selfies or normal photography. While the camera quality was not below the standard, the UI image processing was not very satisfying.
While it was not a success of its time right after its release, many mega-companies launched their own devices with advanced specs. But still, this device has a name as a trend starter for foldable smartphones.
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