A smartphone is something we all rely on for most (if not all) tasks throughout the day, and the increasing screen size makes it a bit difficult to use in some situations. In this sense, having a phone that can change shape depending on the occasion sounds like a novelty. OPPO is partnering with Japanese design studio nendo (founded by Oki Sato) to showcase a radical triple phone concept at the 4th China International Industrial Design Expo (CIIDE) with this year’s theme as’ New designs, new trends, new momentum . “
Known as the slide phone, the motif of the design is the pursuit of “a comfortable relationship between people and their products through a people-centered approach to design.” By adapting a caterpillar-like name for the folding mechanism, the concept phone unfolds into a 7-inch screen with a slim profile, which is a wider screen area than most we’ve seen so far. When unfolded to the first fold, the 1.5-inch screen area is displayed for basic notifications or functions such as music player controls, call history and more. The second fold reveals the 3.15-inch screen space for clicking photos, making video calls, or playing games. The third and final fold reveals the full widescreen for multitasking, taking panoramic photos or playing games with an on-screen controller on each side. It even comes with a professional stylus like the one on the Galaxy Note 20 series.
The positioning of buttons on the sides is such that they allow multiple operations depending on the positioning of the folded shape. Mute the phone, turn the volume up or down and change the filters while taking pictures – anything can be one with these buttons at your disposal. The interesting appearance can be used in a partially open position when slightly curved – a new possibility for use, perhaps. The idea looks promising, as does the Galaxy Z Fold 3 concept and Apple’s conventional foldable iPhone concept. A big advantage here is the slim form factor and the flexibility of use, just like that of the OPPO X 2021 rollable smartphone concept. Like all these concept phones, the sliding phone is a desirable one, but will soon pay off, everyone knows!
Designer: nendo for OPPO
