I Felt the Motorola Rizr's Rollable Screen Move Under My Hand
Motorola's wild concept phone is, for all intents and purposes, a functional smartphone
At Mobile World Congress in February, Motorola showed off its rollable concept phone , which was the first time the public got to see a working version of the next kind of flexible display for consumer phones. Recently, at a briefing in Chicago, the company gave me hands-on time with the rollable prototype -- nicknamed Rizr, which like the new foldable Razr, is a throwback to a mid-2000s series of phones with "rising" faceplates -- and I chatted with one of the product researchers who helped build it.
The prototype I handled is the same version as the one CNET Reporter Andrew Lanxon saw earlier this year at MWC , so I didn't see any new feature surprises. The Rizr is a compact handset a little bigger than a clamshell foldable with a display that loops part way around to the back cover. Rolled up, 5.1 inches of screen are accessible on the front, but tap the lock button twice and the display rolls from the back fully around to the front, flattening to 6.5 inches, about the size of a conventional phone's screen.
Motorola design researcher Lexi Valasek walked us through how this prototype worked, but was equally interested in hearing our questions. What excited us? What did we want this rollable to do? She quizzed me and other reporters to glean feedback on what the next version might have.
"Every step of the way, every turn, we're learning something different, because we've never done this type of form factor before," Valasek said.
The transparent case around the phone lets the screen roll while being held or resting on a flat surface.
For instance, when I asked whether they'd run into any durability issues with the rolling display, she said no -- but why was I curious about that? Because Samsung's first foldable, the Z Fold, infamously delayed its 2019 launch by six months to fix durability issues reporters had found with their review units . But also because, when the Rizr completely unrolls, the top of the display extends beyond the device's body -- and while it's rigid, I can't see how it would survive a drop.
But Valasek's questions show how curious Motorola is about consumer needs and perceptions. What good is a new kind of phone if everyone's too scared of breaking it to try it out?
To Motorola's credit, the Rizr smoothly unrolled and rerolled the screen without any trouble. It was solid, not fragile, though it certainly felt odd to feel the screen unroll under my hand -- placing it on a table as it unrolled, the screen moved the whole phone, as if it was on a tank tread. Valasek and her team 3D printed some cases that fit around the rollable's frame (which actually didn't cover up as much of the phone as the cases used at MWC), that made it far easier to hold the device while the display rolled for an admittedly better experience. This might be the first device in a long time where I'd prefer a case for usability in addition to protection.
The gears did emit a low hum while rolling the display, which other reporters didn't like -- and many may have remembered the concerningly loud squeak when opening and closing our first-generation Razr foldable in 2020. Certainly, a silent mechanism would be better, but the Rizr's buzz isn't loud enough to be annoying. A second-generation rollable may have to worry about sound, but consumers will probably be wowed enough by the first wave of rolling screens that they won't care.