Not Samsung, LG or Huawei had the first smartphone with a flexible display in their range, but Royole with the Flexpai. Now the manufacturer wants to encourage tinkerers and hobbyists to put their own projects into practice with such a flexible screen. The Royole Developer Kit contains all the components you need to get started right away.
The centerpiece of the flexible display is an OLED panel with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The refresh rate is 60 Hertz, the color depth is 8 bits. The manufacturer specifies the power consumption as 3 watts with a brightness of 300 cd / m². It is a touchscreen.
The kit is delivered in an aluminum case and contains, in addition to the display, a whole range of other parts that are necessary for building your own hardware: a microcontroller with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of memory, several expansion boards and suitable cables , WiFi antennas and instructions. Bluetooth and WLAN are available for wireless communication, and the board can also be connected to the computer via the USB-C port. An HDMI connection can also be integrated using an expansion board. A storage box for the components is also included in the price.
Speaking of the price: It’s steep. Royole charges 960 dollars for the developer kit, which is currently around 800 euros. There are also shipping costs and any import fees. The manufacturer accepts orders on its own site.
When it comes to folding smartphones, there is currently hardly any way around market leader Samsung, who is passing by with its Galaxy Z Fold 2, whose successor is expected this summer. Motorola and Huawei also have folding cell phones in their range. Microsoft is trying the Surface Duo with two separate screens and a 360-degree hinge, while Apple still seems to be working on the folding iPhone.
(sat)
