A relatively small Chinese OEM releasing a smartphone is hardly news in 2019, but Royole's FlexPai is the exception, because it is the world's first commercially available true foldable phone, beating the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X to the market.
The FlexPai had actually garnered an early round of media coverage seven months ago, when the Shenzhen-headquartered company showed off a prototype model at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But the coverage was almost universally negative, citing unreliable software and clunky hardware.
Well, I've tested a final retail unit for the past week, and I can say that the software has been drastically improved. The hardware's still a bit unwieldy, but the FlexPai is better than I would have expected considering all the negative press.
Hardware: one super impressive part, the rest average
The Royole FlexPai is, at its core, a small tablet with a 7.8-inch screen that can fold in half—the latter feature makes it a unique and arguably the only reason for existence. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Fold, whose screen folds towards the user and closes like a book, the FlexPai’s screen folds backwards away from the user, so the screen effectively wraps around both the front and back of the device when it’s in folded “sandwich” mode.
The reason the screen is able to bend without damage is because it’s crafted out of plastic instead of glass. This plastic OLED display panel with extra flexibility is a recent development and as is the case with all gen one versions of cutting-edge tech, there are compromises.
The first is that the texture of the screen feels blotchy and slightly rough compared to the smooth, clean feeling of glass. Another hardware limitation that will probably be solved in future generations is that the screens can’t quite truly fold entirely flat onto one another. At the folding point-hinge, there is a sizable gap on the Royole FlexPai. Samsung and Huawei managed to make their gaps smaller, but the gap is still there.
Still, even with the shortcomings and the fact that I’ve seen the FlexPai in action on screen for months, I still felt a genuine sense of marvel the first time I folded the display myself. This is tech that gadget geeks such as myself have been dreaming of for years.
The folding action requires a bit of force, as the hinge-folding point is quite sturdy and firm—this is a good thing, by the way. And after over 100 folds over the past few days, the hinge on my unit is still sturdy.
The main casing of the phone is plastic, which feels cheap, and the hinge area behind the screen is covered by this tacky kevlar-like fabric. Still, I’d rather a weird-looking hinge than one that breaks after a couple of days of use. There’s a dual-camera array that serves as both main and selfie camera, but they produce mediocre photos (more on this later).
Inside the device is a Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 3,970 mAh battery. Usually, these three components together would guarantee top-notch performance. But with a never-before-seen form factor that alternates between tablet and phone, there was no guarantee. The software needed to be able to handle this new constantly transforming form factor, and this was where the early demo units of the FlexPai fell short at CES.
Software: much, much improved, but one crucial obstacle
Almost all the negative press from January focused on the fact that the software wasn’t able to keep up with the constantly transforming form factor. I’m happy to report that is no longer the case, the retail software runs smoothly—surprisingly so, as a matter of fact, considering this is Royole’s first ever attempt at a smartphone (the company’s main business is making display panels).
The most crucial software part is whether the device can adapt to the changing screen sizes, and the FlexPai keeps up here. When I open an app with the phone folded, it launches in mobile mode; when I open up the screen, the app will either expand and fill out the tablet-sized screen for a blown-up look or convert to a desktop/tablet version of the app, which usually means additional information density and the elimination of a hamburger menu. This is most noticeable in the web browser Chrome: if I have multiple websites loaded, the tabs will display vertically for easy access on an unfolded FlexPai, and stay hidden in a more mobile-friendly look on a folded device. Websites will also show a full desktop site on an unfolded FlexPai, and revert to a mobile website if the device is folded.
Virtually everything looks better and more immersive on a larger screen, from videos to Instagram posts. But there’s a clear functional advantage to playing games on the larger display. In certain games, specifically first-person-shooting games such as PUBG and Modern Combat 5, I can aim faster and more accurately on a larger screen simply because my thumbs are covering less of the screen. Thumb typing is also an improved experience as the larger keyboard allows me to peck away faster.
As a freelance writer who enjoys writing on the road, I’ve already made good use of the FlexPai’s flexibility—I have paired it with a portable (and also foldable) keyboard, and used the tandem as my work machine for the past week.
And this is why I ultimately am so excited about foldable phones: I see a future in which we will no longer need to carry multiple devices around for productivity. I can carry a small portable device—one that fits in my pocket—and it can double as my phone and work machine.
On a fundamental level, the FlexPai’s software works. But there is one major obstacle that will make this a dealbreaker to many: although the FlexPai runs Android 9, it cannot run Google apps at all. I’ve tried installing Google apps manually (a process known as side-loading) and the apps simply will not work. I suspect this has to do with a lack of experience optimizing its Android system for the international market, but not being able to run, say, Google Maps or Gmail or even YouTube will be a major issue.
There is a workaround: although I can run the app YouTube, I can still watch YouTube videos if I visit YouTube.com on any web browser. The same goes for Gmail; I can still check emails by using the web browser.
Everything else
As a smartphone, the FlexPai gets the job done, though its thickness and heft (it’s about twice as thick and heavy as a typical flagship smartphone) when folded makes it awkward to hold against your ear for long periods of time. 4G Cell reception was good in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity had no issues, too.
When folded, the FlexPai effectively offers two screens—one on each side—and Royole keeps the two screen separate. For example, if I have Facebook open on one screen and WeChat on the other. Those apps stay on that respective screen. I find this quite useful, as I can quickly multi-task by simply flipping the phone over.
Still, I mostly enjoy using this phone unfolded like a tablet. Everything, from responding to WhatsApp messages, to reading articles, to scrolling through my Twitter feed is more enjoyable.
There is no headphone jack, unfortunately, but there are two speaker grills and they pump out respectable sound, too. This, paired with the large screen, makes the FlexPai a great media consumption device.
Unfortunately, battery life is a bit lacking. The 3,970 mAh cell simply can’t go an entire day for me. On most days, I usually get started at 10 a.m. and the phone would dip below 15% by 7 p.m. A 20-minute top up via USB-C will get the device through the night, however.
For collectors, not consumers
With a starting price of nearly $1,200 and an inability to run Google apps natively, I obviously cannot recommend the Royole FlexPai to the average consumer. But for tech enthusiasts, for collectors, the FlexPai now works well enough to be worth considering.
In my opinion, the foldable phone is the future of personal computing devices. I think in another few years we will all have pocket-sized devices that can unfold to become an 8-, 10-, or maybe even 13-inch screen for productivity and entertainment needs.
And although Samsung and Huawei will release their foldable phones in two months, the Royole FlexPai has the honor of being first. And as far as I’m concerned, that makes it historic. There’s nothing else like the Royole FlexPai right now on the market. This is the first of its kind.
