Would you buy a foldable smartphone at a price of around €1000? It's time to ask yourself that question because the upcoming FlexPai 3 could cost a lot less than other foldables.
Royole may be ready to launch its third foldable smartphone, FlexPai 3, on the market. The company, the first in the world to propose a foldable phone model to the general public, is back in charge with an interesting proposal with a potentially competitive price that recently appeared among the documentation related to TENAA certifications.
It was back in 2018 when Royole was preparing to propose the first example of a foldable smartphone. Beating out particularly emblazoned rivals such as Samsung and Huawei, the manufacturing company founded by engineering graduates from the US university of Stanford including current CEO Bill Liu, has been a pioneer in the field of technological innovations when it comes to flexible screens, even applied outside of the phone industry. After some forays into the world of fashion and aeronautics, thanks to collaborations with Louis Vuitton and Airbus China Innovation Centre respectively, the Shenzhen (China) based company is back with a new smartphone of which the technical and design profile is beginning to be outlined.
Royole FlexPai 3, what is known about the new foldable smartphone
As inferred from the name, Royole FlexPai 3 will be the direct successor of the first ever foldable smartphone. From the model, in fact, inherits the format but not all the features: in fact, although from the images and specifications we can see a 7.2-inch display (which, after closing, remains in the outer part of the folding), the arrangement of the camera changes.
In previous models, the cam could count on a vertical setting, while, in version number three, it should take a square format in which the dual lens and LED flash are positioned. When the phone is closed, the module is presented inside the smartphone, protected from accidental bumps or scratches also thanks to a mirror structure present on the opposite face.
What instead is not evident from the images present in the TENAA documentation is the front camera. The absence of the housing on the screen would suggest its absence or, alternatively, the presence of a solution positioned below the level of the large display.
In the technical specifications, however, appear information relating to the battery, with accumulation capacity of 3360 mAh, and an interface based on Android, although we do not know the version. The last point in its favor, at least in this first round of features, is that relating to 5G connectivity, present on this foldable.
Royole FlexPai 3, how much will it cost?
The time is not yet ripe to be able to give certain information on the price but the first rumors about Royole FlexPai 3 speak of a price significantly lower than its predecessors, or about $ 1000 (ie less than a thousand euros, at current exchange rates). To support the thesis there would be also the dimensions, 147.1 x 138.8 x 7 mm, clearly inferior in comparison to the first and second version.
That of the 1000 dollars is above all a psychological threshold by now, considering that the recent top of range "traditional" of the most prestigious manufacturers (Samsung Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhone 12, just to mention the most famous) exceed it by now regularly from several years and continue to sell very well. A hypothetical foldable from a thousand euros or dollars, therefore, certainly could have a good market.
Doubts remain, however, on the spread outside the Chinese market: certainly the expectation is very high and a trip across the border would not disappoint fans of foldable smartphones, even if the recent disappointment for the European prices of Xiaomi Mi 11 confirms that Chinese smartphones are sold in Europe at much higher prices, even in 2021.