Samsung plans rollable Z Slide smartphone for 2028 launch

Samsung is preparing to unveil a rollable smartphone, tentatively called the Z Slide, in the first half of 2028. The device would use a flexible OLED panel that can extend to a 10‑inch 16:9 display (about 440 ppi) through an internal motorized track, effectively unrolling a hidden portion of the screen.

The company says the project faces “technical difficulty” because rollable displays involve greater structural complexity than foldable screens. Challenges include withstanding repeated bending and tensile stress while keeping the unfolded panel perfectly flat and preserving image quality. No fully rollable smartphone has yet reached the market, though similar technology appears in LG’s Signature OLED R TV, Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable laptop, and prototype demos from LG, Motorola, Oppo and Tecno. Samsung previously demonstrated a Rollable Flex prototype at CES 2024.