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Recently, small foldable screen mobile phones have become very popular.

Starting from June 25th, in less than a month and a half, we have welcomed the Motorola Razr 50 series, Honor Magic V Flip and Xiaomi Mix Flip. Among them, Mix Flip became very popular on Xiaohongshu with its unique "Instant Camera" set, setting the most outstanding debut record for Xiaomi's folding product line to date.

This is not all. Huawei nova Flip has also been released. Different from the previous business-oriented Pocket series, Huawei has prepared more vivid and youthful color combinations and product designs for this series of products, and made corresponding trade-offs in other hardware configurations, lowering the price of its own small folding screen device to 5,000 yuan.

You heard it right, it’s “downward”.

In fact, to this day, the pricing of small foldable screen mobile phones is still quite different from that of conventional straight-screen mobile phones.

As the most flagship product among domestically produced small folding-screen phones this year, the Xiaomi Mix Flip is priced almost twice as much as the Xiaomi 14, while the relatively cheaper Motorola Razr 50 can only use the same Dimensity 7300 processor as the thousand-yuan phone. The price difference is so large that it is visible to the naked eye.

However, there are always exceptions. In the past two days, Xiao Lei spent about 300 yuan to buy a folding screen mobile phone that was originally planned to sell for 5,000 or 6,000 yuan.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

The thing is, Xiao Lei has always had the habit of having fun in the seafood market. Two days ago, when he was shopping in the seafood market, he happened to find someoneTCL’s folding screen engineering machine, and the price has dropped from around 1,200 yuan to around 350 yuan.

You know, even the so-called cheapest Motorola Razr 40 that I bought last year now costs about two thousand yuan in the seafood market.

Not to mention the quality, you can try out a folding screen by spending three hundred yuan. Who can afford this price?

So I bought one.

Yes, I spent 350 yuan to buy the cheapest vertical folding mobile phone you can buy this year, just to show everyone what this 300 yuan folding screen is like and whether it is worth trying out.

And this is the story behind TCL Flex V.

Unseen engineering machine

Before everything starts, let me tell you the origin of this machine as usual.

Well, although foldable devices in a broad sense can be traced back to the early 2000s, the birth of foldable screen technology in the modern sense should have started in 2013.

At the 2013 CES Consumer Electronics Show keynote, Samsung unveiled the「Youm」The company unveiled its flexible OLED plans and put forward the concept of a foldable phone in the modern sense, where the device can unfold outward to form a single, uninterrupted tablet-sized display, accommodating a larger screen in a smaller body.

(Photo source: Samsung)

Of course, the technology is there, but it will take some time before the finished product comes out.

It was not until 2019 that several mass-produced folding screen mobile phones began to emerge at home and abroad, including the pioneer of vertical folding mobile phones——Motorola Razr 2019, moreSamsung Galaxy FoldandHuawei Mate XThis product line, which is still active at the top of the market today, has laid the foundation for the subsequent development of foldable screen mobile phones.

(Photo source: Motorola)

Then, also in 2019, TCL Electronics, which had just changed its name to TCL Technology, and its semiconductor display company CSOT also hoped to catch the wave of flexible folding screens.

Therefore, at the MWC 2019 conference, CSOT demonstrated a number of concept devices using independently developed flexible foldable screens, including a large foldable screen using a 7.2-inch foldable screen, an outward-folding device with a screen of the same size, and several small foldable screens in different forms.

It can be said that TCL already had a relatively rich variety of folding products at that time.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

In 2021, TCL announced a concept product using its own foldable screen, calledFold 'n Roll, which combines TCL Huaxing Optoelectronics' "Dragon Hinge" hinge technology and an expandable display panel. The result is a folding/rolling screen device that can be expanded to a giant screen of 8.85 inches to 10 inches.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

I have to say that this concept is still very eye-catching today.

However, TCL is also well aware that no one will buy such a high-priced concept product, so they said that the appearance of this concept device is just "exploring the technical specifications of such devices" and it plans to launch some kind of consumer-grade foldable phone before the end of 2021.

And this device was officially unveiled at MWC 2022TCL Flex V。

Mix Flip's predecessor

When getting a new phone, we naturally have to start with its appearance.

According to reports at the time, TCL Flex V initially planned to launch two color versions, namely low-key business black and more textured light gold.

(Photo source: TCL)

The TCL Flex V I have in my hand is the light gold version. TCL uses a rather hazy frosted glass back panel. The entire back cover of the machine seems to be shrouded in mist, with only a hint of light gold. It can be said to be a very pleasing color scheme.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

The relatively rounded body, with a metal middle frame and frosted glass back cover, should feel quite delicate to the touch. Unfortunately, the lower half of the back cover of the machine in my hand is broken. Although it is not so eye-catching after affixing a gold sticker, the feel is inevitably greatly reduced.

By the way, there is a metal trim on the folding area on the back.「NOT FOR SALE PROTO」The logo is used to highlight its distinguished identity as an "engineering machine".

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

As for the secondary screen, it is placed on the same long strip module as the rear dual cameras. With the dark gold edging, it looks pretty good at least when it is not lit. Of course, it is obviously inferior to the vertical folding products released by major manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huami, and OV.

Why do we need to emphasize "not lit"? Because after it is lit, this slender 1.1-inch secondary screen not only has a low resolution and a super wide black border, but also has bugs that prevent it from lighting up properly from time to time, which is really annoying to use.

(Photo source: TCL)

But considering that this is an engineering machine, we can't ask for too much.

Next, unfold the phone and you can see a 6.64-inch FHD+ flexible OLED screen with an actual resolution of 2400x1080 and a pixel density of 396ppi.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

The screen of the machine I have has a bright spot, but other than that, the overall display effect is actually quite good. It can even turn on HDR10 true color. However, as a machine that appeared in 2022, the screen refresh rate is only 60Hz, which is indeed worth complaining about.

As for the hinge, I didn't have high expectations at first, but it actually felt OK. Although it didn't reach the level of "supporting free stop between 40-150 degrees" as stated on TCL's official website, the hinge feels relatively tight, and the folding and unfolding process is very smooth. It feels very stable every time I operate it, and there is no obvious feeling of looseness, which makes it very safe to use.

As for the hover effect, it is roughly as shown in the following figure:

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

Interestingly, with the support of TCL's own hinge technology and Huaxing's own flexible screen,The screen crease of TCL Flex V can be said to be quite well controlled.

Even for such an engineering machine that has been tested many times, its crease is still comparable to that of a mainstream manufacturer's vertical folding phone, which is known for its shallow crease. It is basically imperceptible to the touch and can only be clearly felt when viewed from a specific angle.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

It is not difficult to see that TCL already has relatively mature folding screen supply chain technology in 2022, which also laid a good foundation for the hot sales of Xiaomi Mix Flip this year.

Dual speakers, yes!And the external speaker effect is quite good.

As for fingerprint recognition, it is naturally designed on the side power button. TCL Flex V adopts a raised design similar to Redmi.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

It may not be technologically advanced enough, but the unlocking speed must be fast enough.

In terms of screen and design, TCL Flex V definitely has plus points, so now it's time to break through the filter and talk about the hardware configuration.

TCL Flex V is equipped with a QualcommSnapdragon 765GThe processor is an octa-core processor using a 7nm process, including 1 A76 large core with a main frequency of 2.4GHz, 1 A76 medium core with a main frequency of 2.2GHz, and 6 A55 small cores with a main frequency of 1.8GHz. The GPU is Adreno 620, which supports HDR10+ and 4K 60fps video recording.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

After some calculations, this should be the third second-hand phone I bought this year that is equipped with a Snapdragon 765G processor.

Of course, in order to reduce costs, it is normal for mid-range vertical folding phones to use mid-range CPUs. For example, the moto Razr 2019 uses the Snapdragon 710, and the latest moto Razr 50 uses a Dimensity 7300. Anyway, the focus is on the form, and it’s not that it can’t be used.

The problem is that at this point in time in 2022, the mid-range CPU that TCL Flex V should choose should be the Snapdragon 778G, or even the Dimensity 1080/Dimensity 1100, but it should not be the Snapdragon 765G released in 2020.

A machine released in 2022 is using a 2020 processor. I can only say that you are better than LG.

Anyway, I took it to the Entertainment Rabbit for a test, and the final comprehensive score was 390,000, which is slightly lower than the average Snapdragon 765G mobile phone, but it successfully surpassed 2% of users.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

I wonder who these 2% of users are...

Next was the gaming session. I originally wanted to pick two games, “Zero Zone” and “League of Legends Mobile”, for testing.

The results were tested first and the performance was not good.League of Legends Mobile, under the preset of medium picture quality + 60 frames, playing 1-2 games of Polar Battle Royale, the TCL Flex V finally ran an average frame rate of 59.47 frames. Not only was there frame drop, but the touch screen also failed intermittently due to overheating.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

Due to the high temperature, the game became unresponsive once during the game.

In this case, it is obviously unnecessary to test any heavy gaming needs.

Of course, the TCL Flex V not only has poor performance, but also has a pretty mediocre image quality.

On the long strip camera module, TCL put48MP main camera + 16MP ultra-wide cameraThe dual-camera combination has the main camera supporting OIS optical image stabilization. Judging from the parameters, it is most likely using the Sony IMX586 sensor from a few years ago. In other words, it has the same imaging configuration as this year's 2,000 yuan performance phone.

In actual shooting, the performance of the main camera is OK. Except that the overall color is a bit yellowish, as long as it is not shot in an extremely dark environment, the TCL Flex V can always take a good photo. Even in a poorly lit environment, OIS can effectively reduce jitter and ensure the clarity of the final image.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

Most importantly, TCL has adapted the system so that when the phone is folded 90 degrees, the upper part displays the viewfinder, and the lower part becomes a variety of function options. This design not only improves the photo-taking experience, but also increases the flexibility of use.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

However, due to system problems, the machine is unable to use its built-in camera application to record video, so the "DV scene" cannot be restored.

TCL's ownApplication split screenThrough simple gestures, the screen can be divided into two parts, each running different applications. For example, the upper part can be used to browse Bilibili, and the lower part can be used to take notes or reply to messages.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

The only problem is that the performance of Snapdragon 765G is so poor that the split-screen function is extremely laggy and has little usability.

As for the secondary screen,In addition to displaying the time, it can also call up a flashlight, camera, weather, voice recorder and stopwatchIt has functions like the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 7 Plus, which are considered to be a very standard early vertical folding secondary screen configuration. It certainly cannot be compared with the current products that focus on the secondary screen experience.

By the way, this thing even supports wireless charging, but the battery life is a bit too bad.

Not perfect, but worth a try

The TCL Flex V never came to market.

According to foreign media, TCL planned to price the product at US$600 to US$700 (approximately RMB 4,000 to 5,000) after it was launched, and it was expected to be sold only in overseas markets.

Ultimately, due to lack of competitive pricing, shortage of parts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, rising production costs and other reasons, TCL completely abandoned its plan to launch the phone in September of the same year and focused more on the supply chain for its research on foldable products.

(Photo source: Xiaomi)

The Xiaomi Mix Flip released last month is the finished product of Xiaomi and TCL's screen supply chain.

Back to the engineering machine, in fact, my expectations for the TCL Flex V engineering machine were very low.

You have to know that TCL is not a leading mobile phone manufacturer. At this point in 2022, only Motorola, Huawei and Samsung have done some research on vertical folding mobile phones. Even OPPO and vivo have not yet made any substantial entry. Considering that general engineering machines always have these weird points, it is naturally reasonable to lower expectations.

But judging from the results, TCL Flex V is a highly completed product.

(Photo source: Lei Technology)

The system is almost fully adapted, with highly completed hinges and screen, and average secondary screen adaptation. It also won the 2022 IF Design Award for its unique appearance design. It is the kind that can be directly mass-produced and put on the market as long as the details are polished.

Of course, launching the phone on the market is one thing, but whether it can be sold is another, because its parameters are basically two or three generations behind those of the same period models. Who would spend 6,000 yuan to buy a vertical folding phone powered by Snapdragon 765G?

I don’t know how to do that anyway.

As for whether it is worth buying now, I think if you have some experience in tinkering with computers, you can still buy it and tinker with it. After all, it is only 380 yuan, and you won't lose much if you use it to experience it.

Of course, if the prices are skyrocketing, my advice is to stay out of it.

In the first half of 2024, the technology circle is surging.
Big models are being put into practice at an accelerated pace, with AI applications emerging in an endless stream, including AI mobile phones, AI PCs, AI home appliances, AI search, and AI e-commerce.
Vision Pro is now available in China, setting off a new wave of XR spatial computing;
HarmonyOS NEXT is officially released, and the mobile OS ecosystem has changed;
Automobiles have fully entered the "second half", and intelligence has become a top priority;
Competition in e-commerce is increasingly fierce, with low prices and even lower services;
The wave of going overseas is surging, and Chinese brands are embarking on the journey of globalization;

In the hottest month of July, Lei Technology's mid-year review is launched, summarizing the brands, technologies and products worth recording in the first half of 2024 in the technology industry, recording the past and looking forward to the future. Please pay attention.