WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.420 (instrumental music) 00:00:05.420 --> 00:00:07.470 - Folding phones are boring. 00:00:07.470 --> 00:00:10.260 Look we've had the first wave of foldable devices 00:00:10.260 --> 00:00:13.760 and they're neat, but you've seen all that already. 00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:16.250 This is about what comes next 00:00:16.250 --> 00:00:18.690 after the current generation of foldables. 00:00:18.690 --> 00:00:20.710 Sling like the tri-fold from TCL, 00:00:20.710 --> 00:00:25.999 a wild new concept, folding tablet, phone thing. 00:00:25.999 --> 00:00:28.300 (techno-music) 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:31.640 Unlike most foldables the tri-fold has two hinges, 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:34.070 which lets it fold up into thirds . 00:00:34.070 --> 00:00:35.730 You can use it as a phone, 00:00:35.730 --> 00:00:38.470 you can unfold it once to use as a bigger screen 00:00:38.470 --> 00:00:41.800 or fold the unfolded into a full size tablet. 00:00:41.800 --> 00:00:43.750 It's not a half way compromise like some of the other 00:00:43.750 --> 00:00:45.610 foldables that we've seen which basically 00:00:45.610 --> 00:00:48.470 turn into just slightly wider phone displays. 00:00:48.470 --> 00:00:50.610 This is a full blown tablet. 00:00:50.610 --> 00:00:52.480 It's nearly as big as an iPad, 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:54.150 but you can still fit it in your pocket. 00:00:54.150 --> 00:00:56.170 The screen folds from a 10 inch tablet 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:58.180 down to 6.65 inch phone. 00:00:58.180 --> 00:01:00.140 You could also open it two-thirds the way 00:01:00.140 --> 00:01:02.490 and ya know prop that up it'll auto rotate 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:04.590 so you can use in whatever orientation you want. 00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:06.670 There's a lot of weird use cases 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:08.360 that you could probably use this for. 00:01:08.360 --> 00:01:11.030 The screen on this one is a 3k panel, 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:13.259 but again that's just this prototype. 00:01:13.259 --> 00:01:16.340 We have no idea if the finished version will have that, 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:19.810 but the tri-fold shows just how hard it's gonna be to turn 00:01:19.810 --> 00:01:21.470 these ideas into reality. 00:01:21.470 --> 00:01:23.096 I've gotten to play around with the prototype for a bit 00:01:23.096 --> 00:01:26.650 and it's really rough to use right now. 00:01:26.650 --> 00:01:29.440 It is incredibly heavy for a phone. 00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:32.870 It's got those big metal hinges and there are three separate 00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:34.830 batteries to power all those displays, 00:01:34.830 --> 00:01:37.140 it's basically three phones. 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:40.550 And even though it's really thin as a tablet the phone mode 00:01:40.550 --> 00:01:43.250 is super thick and that's before your worrying 00:01:43.250 --> 00:01:44.690 about things like the software, 00:01:44.690 --> 00:01:46.082 which is basically non-existent. 00:01:46.082 --> 00:01:48.860 Durability which is a huge question 00:01:48.860 --> 00:01:51.413 or price which who even knows. 00:01:51.413 --> 00:01:54.170 (techno music) 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:56.350 But looking even further into the future. 00:01:56.350 --> 00:02:00.460 TCL also had a very early mock up of a rollable phone. 00:02:00.460 --> 00:02:03.500 This is really cool idea that's a phone that has a fully 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:05.840 flexible display that slides around the side 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:07.150 and behind the phone. 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:09.670 And it could roll back out and become a larger display 00:02:09.670 --> 00:02:11.270 when you need more space. 00:02:11.270 --> 00:02:13.430 The way it will, in theory, work 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:15.900 is that there's gonna be motors on the inside of the phone 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:18.630 and you'll press a button and it'll expand out 00:02:18.630 --> 00:02:22.650 from a 6.75 inch display to a 7.8 inch screen. 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:25.470 Now that doesn't sound like a lot, but your actually getting 00:02:25.470 --> 00:02:28.910 almost double the screen space it's almost twice as wide. 00:02:28.910 --> 00:02:31.610 The whole system is actually pretty similar to the rollable 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:34.790 Oled TV that LG's been showing off for years. 00:02:34.790 --> 00:02:37.200 Now again this is a really early concept, 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:39.288 it's not even a functional device, just plastic 00:02:39.288 --> 00:02:42.810 and a screen that's literally just a sheet of paper. 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:44.020 Is this a good idea? 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:44.920 Who knows. 00:02:44.920 --> 00:02:47.410 It does avoid some of the issues of current foldables, 00:02:47.410 --> 00:02:49.390 like those easily breakable hinges 00:02:49.390 --> 00:02:52.060 and the creased display which is cool. 00:02:52.060 --> 00:02:54.960 But it's almost guaranteed to have issues of its own. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.262 Moving parts they're tricky. 00:02:57.262 --> 00:03:00.930 Now the tri-fold is just a proof of concept 00:03:00.930 --> 00:03:03.620 and the plastic sliding one even more so. 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:05.820 You won't actually be able to buy either of these devices 00:03:05.820 --> 00:03:08.590 and it's not clear if TCL's actually gonna make products 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:10.370 based on these concepts in the future. 00:03:10.370 --> 00:03:12.700 So why should you care. 00:03:12.700 --> 00:03:15.150 Well, first of all, because it's cool. 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:18.020 I mean look at this thing it's a phone that unfolds 00:03:18.020 --> 00:03:20.250 into a giant full size tablet. 00:03:20.250 --> 00:03:23.050 And it actually turns on and runs android, 00:03:23.050 --> 00:03:24.940 it's like a science fiction prop. 00:03:24.940 --> 00:03:27.600 But it's also important, because TCL is planning 00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:30.067 on eventually making foldable and rollable phones 00:03:30.067 --> 00:03:32.210 that might actually look like these. 00:03:32.210 --> 00:03:34.160 Possibly as early as next year. 00:03:34.160 --> 00:03:36.410 The company says that it's experimenting with dozens 00:03:36.410 --> 00:03:38.320 of different form factors right now. 00:03:38.320 --> 00:03:40.410 So it's possible that phones like these, 00:03:40.410 --> 00:03:41.740 could be real one day. 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:42.573 Look phones have basically 00:03:42.573 --> 00:03:45.500 been the same for the last decade. 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:47.940 Black boxes with touch screens. 00:03:47.940 --> 00:03:50.680 Devices like the tri-fold or that sliding concept, 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:51.521 even if they're not here yet, 00:03:51.521 --> 00:03:53.610 show off what the future phones 00:03:53.610 --> 00:03:55.130 might one day look like. 00:03:55.130 --> 00:03:57.550 And that's really exciting idea. 00:03:57.550 --> 00:03:58.620 Thanks so much for watching. 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:01.140 If you want to see more videos about cool phones check out 00:04:01.140 --> 00:04:03.180 our Galaxy S20 ultra review. 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:05.260 You can actually buy that one. 00:04:05.260 --> 00:04:06.093 Check out the review. 00:04:06.093 --> 00:04:07.170 See if you want to. 00:04:07.170 --> 00:04:09.852 And like and subscribe for more great videos like this.