OPPO And Vivo Foldable Phones Might Finally Debut This Year

Although it was really inevitable, the foldable phone train was, at least for a while, delayed by last year's more pressing global events. Things seem to be moving forward now, though, with Huawei finally launching its true second-gen foldable and Xiaomi finally jumping on board with the Mi Mix Fold last month. Those, however, aren't the only phone makers with foldable ambitions, and, according to some sources, OPPO and Vivo will also be joining the fray sooner rather than later.

Both companies have, of course, shown off or teased their foldable phones. OPPO revealed it actually had a functional prototype way back in 2019 at the same time that Vivo's IQOO sub-brand was leaked to have one as well. Both of these foldable phones followed Huawei's initial "outie" design but, just like Huawei, they might be folding the other way now.

According to leakster Digital Chat Station on Weibo, OPPO is actually working on not one but two foldable phons. Both of them folding inward like the Galaxy Z Fold, just in different sizes. One with a 7-inch unfolded screen is reportedly closer to mass production than the larger 8-inch model but progress on both are said to be fast.

Vivo, on the other hand, only has one foldable phone and it has a large 8-inch foldable screen as well. Unlike the information for the OPPO foldables, the tipster says that it will have a 6.5-inch second screen on the outside.

With these two brands coming to the party, it seems that the smartphone market has settled on the inward folding design as the winner, despite the need for a second screen. That is at least until technology and manufacturing catch up to make these foldable displays more resilient to be used on the outside. Then again, OPPO does have a rollable phone too so we'll have to see which transformable phone design will also win in the end.