TCL shows off a new look at 6.7-inch rollable phone concept at CES 2021

This story is part of CES, where our editors will bring you the latest news and the hottest gadgets of the entirely virtual CES 2021.

LG isn’t the only major electronics maker experimenting with rollable devices. At its CES press conference on Monday, TCL once again showed an update of its rollable in action, releasing a new video of the concept device expanding and retracting in a woman’s hands. 

Not much is known about the device, but TCL’s Tiago Abreu, head of the “X-Lab” at the TCL Industrial Design Center, says in the video that it can go from a 6.7-inch phone to a 7.8-inch tablet with “a simple tap of the finger.” Abreu says the user interface will adapt to the change, though exactly what that looks like wasn’t shown. 

Judging by the video, the back of TCL’s device may be highly reflective, as the video shows the woman flipping the device around to apply lipstick, seemingly using the phone as a mirror.

TCL had teased a rollable concept last year, but it was limited largely to just dummy prototypes. 

Stefan Streit, general manager of global marketing for TCL’s phone business, told CNET the company will release a phone with a flexible display in 2021, though he would not confirm whether that would be a foldable or a rollable device.

In addition to the rollable phone, Abreu also announced a new 17-inch printed OLED scrolling display that can be unfurled and features a “100% color gamut.” He says that the new screen technology, from TCL CSOT, can be “widely applied on flexible TVs, curved and foldable displays as well as transparent commercial display screens.”