Chinese smartphone brand Oppo has announced a new concept phone with a rollable screen on Tuesday. The Oppo X 2021 was part of the company’s “Oppo Inno Day event”, which used the theme “Leap into the Future” to showcase experimental products. Oppo has unveiled the Oppo X 2021 Rollable Concept smartphone that features an extending display, which is the first of its kind.

the Chinese tech giant’s R&D is on full display at the Inno Day 2020 event as the Oppo X 2021 arrives with a unique extending screen. Its display expands from 6.7 inches to 7.4 inches, which is achieved through the company’s rollable concept technology.

This makes the display durable with no “hard folding” involved to eliminate the “headache’ of a crease forming in the middle of the display, which is common on foldable handsets. The screen is an OLED panel that extends through its 6.8mm Roll Motor that is a proprietary design. Notably, the company had filed for 122 patents for this project, out of which 12 are used on the scroll mechanism alone.

Oppo placed an emphasis on the durability and support structure behind its rollable display. The company built a special 2 in 1 plate, which acts as the support when the display is contracted or extended. It achieves this by having the support panel comprise of two parts with one portion sliding out along with the display to keep a rigid structure and achieve a flat surface.

Oppo’s Chief 5G scientist Henry Tang stated that “Compared with foldable technologies, rollable displays are a lot more adaptable as they are adjustable between minimum and maximum sizes for different use case scenarios.”

Oppo is one of four major smartphone brands – along with Vivo, OnePlus and Realme – owned by BBK Electronics, which is based in the manufacturing hub of Dongguan in China’s southern Guangdong province. Since the brand was launched in 2004, Oppo has grown to become the world’s fifth largest smartphone brand. The company started as a budget handset maker and maintains a strong presence in developing markets across Southeast Asia.