Sony reportedly has a unique take on the foldable

While Samsung and Huawei slug it out to get the first foldable smartphone into early adopters’ hands, other companies wait in the wings. Xiaomi, Motorola and others all have plans in the foldable space, but a new leak suggests that Sony’s unique offering may be worth keeping an eye out for.

Unlike other handsets that fold into a larger display, Sony’s approach is for the screen to roll up when not in use. That’s according to tipster Max J, anyway. Typically a Samsung expert, J took some time out to tweet about Sony’s foldable plans with some cold, hard specifications. 

A rollable LG display is backed by a 3220mAh battery and a 10x zoom camera. And while the prototype houses a midrange Qualcomm SM7250, a retail version could come with a Snapdragon 855 processor. 

Of course, that upgrade would depend on when it’s ready for public consumption. That’s working on Max J’s prediction of a release in December 2019 or early 2020.

By the way, the embedded GIF in the tweet is for illustrative purposes only, rather than a clip of the actual prototype. The video is actually three years old and shows an old Samsung prototype rather than the LG screen Max J states Sony is currently experimenting with.

It’s certainly different, aiming for portability, rather than combining a tablet with a smartphone. 

But you shouldn’t get too excited just yet, and this time there are a couple of health warnings beyond the usual “rumour and speculation” caveats. Firstly, this is just a leak with no hard evidence guaranteeing it’s true. Secondly, even if it is completely accurate, it’s just a prototype, and prototypes have a habit of never reaching consumer hands. Sometimes they can be dramatically different if they ever do arrive.

Assuming the prototype is real, though, it’s good to see that Sony is thinking beyond the next Xperia phone and into the world of foldables.

Do you see the benefit of a phone that rolls up? Let us know what you think on Twitter: @TrustedReviews.