What you need to know
- A rumor puts Samsung’s wild rollable phone back on the table, as a patent for a “Galaxy Z Rollable” reportedly surfaces.
- The patent (and provided mockup renders) suggest the phone would slide out from right to left, bringing its raised camera island with it for a tablet-like experience.
- We’ve seen Samsung show off rollable phone concepts in the past at CES 2024, and there were reports later that year that said it was focusing on its development.
One thing we didn’t expect was to hear about a Samsung rollable phone, yet that’s what we’ve got, and illustrations to boot.
Tipster xleaks7 on X was involved in a rumor regarding an alleged “Galaxy Z Rollable” patent from Samsung (via WearView). If the name wasn’t indicative enough, the patent reportedly shows off a device that slides out to the left, as it exits a static “shell.” This turns the device from a standard or typical slab phone to a device that feels more like a book-style foldable or tablet.
Android Central’s Take
This patent seems cool. And I mean that from a surface level. A phone that rolls out? It’s screen widens to almost a tablet-like experience? Sweet, right? What I struggle with—since this isn’t the first time I’ve heard this rumor—is how practical this would be in the real world. Could I see this as a phone that people are rushing to the stores for? I don’t know. Phones have come a long way, but maybe there’s a threshold that just won’t work as well as we think.
There weren’t many concrete details offered in this patent, only a look at its design and rollable function. However, the illustrations show off a triple camera array that takes inspiration from Samsung’s current Galaxy S26 series (or even the Fold 7). The raised camera island sits on the left side of the phone, inside a cutout on the back. This cutout matters, as it’s the housing for the cameras once the phone rolls back into its compact form.
This also proposes a significant design for Samsung, as the publication also notes. It seems the device’s hardware is doing the moving. Pulling the screen out with it for a different experience. We’ve heard about Samsung’s rollable phone a couple of times in the past: once during a major conference and another when the competition beat it to the Tri-Fold.
Roll out
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We’d be more surprised by this rollable patent (or the idea of a rollable phone) if Samsung hadn’t shown off concepts at CES 2024. It’s a neat idea from a tech enthusiast perspective, but the company didn’t really know what the phone was supposed to be. During the event, Samsung showed off the “Rollable Flex,” a rollable phone with an “expandable display that can become up to five times larger than its original size.” The company painted the concept as a “unique device,” which really sounds like a repairable nightmare; never mind its durability concerns.
If we skip to later in 2024, around November, reports claimed Samsung was going to pursue the world’s first rollable phone after Huawei’s tri-fold caught it off guard. Once fully rolled out, the phone was said to sport a 12.4-inch display. What’s more, those reports wildly claimed we would see it during the second half of 2025 (that didn’t happen). Whether this is happening remains to be seen, as patents don’t necessarily mean a company is going through with it.