OPPO reveals foldable phone protoype

Foldable mania is in full swing. Less than a day after Huawei unveiled its flexible flagship - the Mate X - OPPO Vice President Brian Shen took to Weibo to share photos his company's own foldable prototype.

The nameless foldable is similar to Huawei's Mate X, featuring a large display that stays exposed on both sides when the device is closed. There's also a similar wedge that that houses the phone's cameras. No specifications were provided.

Shen did however explain that OPPO isn't planning to sell this device unless it sees a lot more demand. He even went as far to say that folding devices don't bring about huge improvements in user experience.

This mirrors comments by made by OPPO Product Manager Chuck Wang days ago at the company's Mobile World Congress Innovation Event.

"OPPO is taking into account a lot factors, like consumer demand, user experience, as well as the battery life of the smartphone," said Wang. "Currently, we haven't quite lived up to the standards we're pursuing, so we're not ready for commercial use or mass production."

We wouldn't be surprised if pricing was a factor too. OPPO tends to price its smartphones for accessibility - typically under $1,000 - but we're expecting Samsung and Huawei's foldables to sell for between $3,000 and $4,000 locally.

WhistleOut travelled to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress as a guest of OPPO Australia

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio