- LG teased a second Explorer Project phone, this time with a pull-out display.
- The retractable chin can give you a big screen if you need it.
- There is no mention of when it might appear.
LG wasted no time posting a teaser for its next Explorer Project phone after the Wing was revealed. The electronics giant ended its Wing streaming event (via CNET) with a short but eye-opening clip that shows the next experimental device and that seems to focus on a pull-out display.
The phone appears to center itself around a single display with an extendable chin. If so, it would be very adaptable. You can always have a big screen, but keep the phone small for one-handed use.
There are no other details for the slide-out phone, and LG made it clear in the teaser that you shouldn’t expect any. It enveloped the brief look with “hold your breath”. Don’t be surprised if you have to wait until 2021 or later to see more.
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However, it wouldn’t be shocking if the screen made use of LG’s rollable TV technology. It uses a flexible OLED screen that hides in the base of the set when you are not using it. The challenge, as you can imagine, is scalability. The current generation RX is a 65-inch set with plenty of space. If LG uses similar technology for the pull-out phone from its teaser, it has to fit into a space just inches wide.
Such a design would at least correspond to the Explorer project. The Wing and future devices represent LG’s return to more adventurous phones like the G Flex series with a curved screen and the modular G5. The company takes the risk of finding a breakthrough form factor before anyone else.
The difference, of course, is that LG has more realistic expectations – these are niche phones that aren’t meant to replace mainstream flagships like the V60. The company certainly wants you to buy a phone with a pull-out screen, but sticking to proven designs instead shouldn’t be a problem.