The Unreleased Rollable Smartphone!
Marques Brownlee examines LG's unreleased rollable smartphone—a fully functional prototype that never made it to market because LG's mobile division shut down before launch. The device expands from a 6.7-inch phone to a 7.4-inch tablet via a three-finger swipe, featuring sophisticated engineering including dual motors, pressure-sensitive buttons, and custom software animations. While LG's history of chasing innovation without a reliable cash cow ultimately killed the company, this prototype demonstrates how far they advanced: the lesson for builders is that bold innovation without sustainable revenue is a path to failure, no matter how technically impressive the product.
Key takeaways
- • Innovation without a core revenue engine is fatal: LG built increasingly impressive devices (Wing, G8X, rollable phone) but never paired them with a steady moneymaker, leading to financial collapse and the company's exit from mobile.
- • The rollable form factor solves a real problem—eliminating the crease that plagues foldable phones—but introduces new durability risks: exposed gears, visible air gaps, and a constantly-flexing display make water/dust resistance nearly impossible.
- • Motor engineering was the critical bottleneck: LG used dual motors and spring-loaded arms to achieve smooth expansion, but the motors were audible enough that engineers had to develop masking sound effects—a sign of how mechanically complex rollables truly are.
- • Thoughtful UX details suggest near-launch readiness: custom lock screen animations, adaptive Settings layouts, and pressure-sensitive controls indicate LG was far enough along that the concept was viable—the problem was market timing and cash, not engineering feasibility.
- • Physical safety features were built in: the motors could resist external force and trigger auto-close when squeezed to prevent damage, showing LG anticipated real-world failure modes during development.
Recommendations (2)
"So it can push a 16-inch MacBook Pro across a table with rubber feet down"
Marques Brownlee · ▶ 6:21
"you can watch Zack from JerryRigEverything's video because he also got one and he took those screws and took them out"
Marques Brownlee · ▶ 8:34
Mentioned (5)
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