LG Rollable phone news, leaks and why it won’t be released
LG’s first rollable phone
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Pour one out for theLGRollable - its January unveiling kicked off 2021 with excitement and curiosity, and everyone was anticipating its launch… until April whenLG announced it was leaving the smartphone business.
We’re sorry to say, then, that the LG Rollable almost certainly won’t go on sale ever. While this hasn’t been explicitly confirmed, it’s all but guaranteed seeing as the rollable smartphone’s creators don’t exist anymore.
Sure, there are a few other rollable phones that might launch - theOppo X 2021might get a follow-up, andTCLhasexplicitly confirmed it’s launching a rolling or folding smartphonein 2021. So it’s not the end for this kind of form factor, just a sad occurrence for the LG Rollable.
Below you’ll find all the leaks, news and rumors that we’d heard about the LG Rollable prior to its likely cancellation, so while it will probably never launch, you can get a clear idea of what might have been.
LG hasstopped making smartphones, which means we probably won’t see the LG Rollable (or any other phone) from the company.
Cut to the chase
LG Rollable release date and price
Sadly, it looks like the LG Rollable has died with LG’s smartphone business. The company hasconfirmed that it’s no longer making phones, which presumably includes the LG Rollable.
The only slight hope we have that it might launch stems from rumors that the LG Rollable wasset to be announced sometime in early 2021- in other words, that it’s very nearly finished, so wouldn’t take much work for LG to send it out into the world.
It had even recently been spotted in aBluetooth SIG certification, which typically happens close to launch.
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But even before LG officially exited the smartphone market, there had been whispers of itabandoning the project.
Indeed, sources previously claimed that LG had told its suppliers that the Rollablehas been put on hold, though LG responded to this saying that it hasn’t finalized any decision about the project. Not being ‘finalized’ though leaves the possibility of cancellation open.
As for the price - if it ever launches - asource claimsthat the LG Rollable will cost $2,359 (roughly £1,775, AU$3,130), which would make it even more expensive than the likes of theSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. But then this is an entirely new type of phone, so whether or not this price is right, it’s sure to cost a lot.
Still, there might soon be a bunch of rollable phones, as bothTCLandOppoare also working on rollable handsets. These more seem to be in the concept stages right now so probably aren’t as far along as LG’s, but once there’s competition in the market, prices could quickly drop.
LG Rollable news, leaks and rumors
The biggest LG Rollable newscomes from LG itself, which has shown how the phone looks from the front – along with how it looks when it’s changing size. You can see all of that in the GIF above.
In short, it starts out looking like an ordinary smartphone, but the top (when held in landscape) can extend upwards to create a small tablet. There doesn’t appear to be a visible front-facing camera, which could be because this isn’t the finished form of the device, or might perhaps mean it’s built into the screen.
We’ve previously seen a very similar design inan LG patent, an image of which can be seen above, but in the patent, two sides of the phone could extend and retract, whereas in LG’s teaser we only see one side do this. That might mean only one side will on the finished phone, but it’s equally possible that both will and that LG simply chose to only show one.
As for the specs,one reportsuggests that the LG Rollable will have a 7.4-inch screen when fully extended, and a 6.8-inch one when not.
A South Korean forum post spotted byLetsGoDigitalsays the same, but also includes the images you can see below (which are similar to what LG has now shown) and an additional detail – that the resolution at 7.4 inches will apparently be 1600 x 2428, while at 6.8 inches it will apparently be 1080 x 2428.
Another sourcesimilarly claimsthat the LG Rollable will have a 7.4-inch screen, along with a top-end Snapdragon 888 chipset, 16GB of RAM, and a 4,200mAh battery.
With all these leaks pointing to the same screen size, we’d say that aspect is likely accurate, and a Snapdragon 888 chipset is very likely too, as that’s expected to be the main flagship phone chipset of 2021.
James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.
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