Sony Reportedly Working On Rollable Smartphone As Apple Preps iPhone X Fold

Sony is reportedly working on a rollable smartphone while other companies, including Apple, are busy working on foldable smartphones.

While the world waits for Samsung to fix the Galaxy Fold and for Apple to release a foldable iPhone, Sony is said to be working on a rollable smartphone that has great specs. This information comes from a leaker named Max J., who has the handle @Samsung_News_.

The leaker, who works for AllAboutSamsung.de, said via a tweet that Sony is working on a “competitor” to the Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X. He said the device could be launched between December this year or sometime early in 2020.

In the works

The Samsung leaker said Sony has working prototypes that use a display from LG, are powered by an SM7250 SoC, feature a camera with 10x optical zoom, have a 3,220 mAh battery, and feature a “nautilus design.”

The leaker didn’t explain what the “nautilus design” meant, but he did attach a link to a video showing Samsung’s rollable display shown in 2016 “just for illustration purposes.” According to Google, a nautilus is “a cephalopod mollusk with a light external spiral shell,” which implies that the rollable phone could resemble the design seen in the video:

Sony is said to use a rollable display from LG, which has already shown some rollable displays of its own earlier this year.

Just a prototype

The other specs mentioned above seem weak, like that 3,220 mAh battery, but it’s worth noting that the specs mentioned above apply to the prototypes Sony is rumored to be testing. These specs might not even make it to the final product since Sony is still in testing, and is likely to improve the device to make it competitive.

That said, fans can hope to expect that Sony will use a bigger battery. What’s more, fans can hope to see a great camera as well.

The leaker said the final production models might include different specs, such as a Snapdragon 855 SoC, which is currently used by many flagships at the moment. It might also have the Qualcomm X50 modem, which will allow it to have 5G connectivity.

Fans are advised to take the news with a grain of salt as Sony hasn’t officially announced the device yet. If ever the device does get released later this year or early next year, it’s interesting to see how it will fare among the competition.