Moxi’s bendable smartphone can be wrapped around your wrist
Smartphone? Yes. Smartwatch? Sure. Expensive? Of course
Smartwatches are still a hard sell to some people because the devices essentially replicate what your smartphone is already doing, and effectively feed off it. But maybe they’ll be swayed by this striking new concept.
Chinese startup Moxi Group has unveiled its concept for a bendable smartphone, which can be used like a traditional touchscreen phone when fully flat or upright, or folded up into a cuff that you can wear around your wrist – and still be functional all the same.
Moxi’s phone uses graphene material to support the transformation: it’s the thinnest material known to man, and is flexible, lightweight, and durable. The company says it already has a prototype built and that it will have 100,000 units for sale in China by the end of this year.
There’s one big catch for now, however: the initial model will only sport a black-and-white display. The colour model shown in these mock-ups isn’t expected until 2018, due to the production challenges of bringing it to life. It’s not clear what operating system the phone is running at this time.
Even with a black and white display, Moxi’s bendable phone won’t be cheap: it should sell for about 5,000 yuan (about £520), which puts it in the ballpark of traditional, full-colour flagship smartphones today.
Still, the push for further phone innovation is always exciting, and Moxi is taking an even bigger risk with its flexible screen than Samsung did with its Galaxy S7 Edge and previous curved models, or LG did for the G Flex 2 and its predecessor. Then again, Samsung has foldable and rollable phones and tablets in the works, so there’s still plenty of room for gadget mutations ahead.
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
