LG Rollable Teardown Reveals Ill-Fated Phone Is An Engineering Marvel

The consumer technology space is chock full of devices that looked to be on the cusp of making a splash but never made it to the finish line. Thanks to YouTuber JerryRigEverything, the world is getting an up close look at one of those devices, the LG Rollable phone that never was, as LG’s phone division was shut down before this innovative device’s planned release in 2021.

Even five years on, the LG Rollable’s design still feels like something from the future. The display can retract and expand with a simple swipe gesture, taking it from a 5.5-inch display to a 7.5-inch display and back again. LG also worked to ensure that Android played nicely when this transition takes places, making it a seamless process despite the software being in an unreleased state.


Of course, with this being JerryRigEverything, the phone was going be taken apart to give us a detailed look at some of LG’s excellent engineering work. The rolling mechanism is driven by a set of three spring loaded arms that are powered by a dual gear motor. This system proved to be robust, as it’s able to move a set of two beefy textbooks out of the way as it expands the display.

LG’s engineering team was also evidently cognizant of the challenge that might be posed by dust, which would not be easy for users to clean once it got inside the back part of the housing. To mitigate this, the company added a set of bristles to the edges of the back glass to prevent dirt and debris from sneaking in.

It’s a shame that LG not only never got to release this to the public, but that it’s completely out of the phone space. The company clearly had incredibly talented teams working there and it would be a boon for phone fans if it were still around. It would also be interesting to see this rollable concept face off against the foldable designs we currently see.

Thankfully, this cool piece of technology has been preserved as JerryRigEverything was able to put it all back together again.