A closer look at Royole's vibrant, flexible screens

Though we've seen flexible screens in Samsung's Galaxy phones, 2013's LG G Flex phone and LG's OLED TV that rolls up like a poster from this year's CES, we still haven't seen a completely bendable phone.

A small company based in Fremont, California named Royole (pronounced "royal") is hoping to get close.

For more information, read our full story: Phones with bendable, flexible screens are closer than you think

Royole has developed super-thin OLED displays, about 0.01-millimeter thick, which flex, fold and even flap in the wind. It's also working on the phone hardware to go with it.

Royole's bendable phone design envisions a wraparound device you can either use straightened out, like a candybar phone, or bend around your wrist.

This concept could be a new direction that phones are heading towards, and may serve as the innovative push the industry needs to sell more phones now that the sales are slowing down.

Though headquartered in California, Royole has factories in China and mostly works with other companies to put their flexible displays on everything from clothes and cars to speakers.

Some products you can buy now, like a $900 (roughly £700, AU$1,230) felt top hat with a screen that hugs the crown. Others, like the aforementioned wraparound phone are still in development.

When I briefly took a look at Royole's displays up close, the screens were vibrant and have a sharp 200-to-300 pixel per inch density. They were also very light. One flapped consistently as a fan blew underneath it.

As all these companies big and small race to produce these bendable displays and hardware, your ability to purchase the world's first mass-produced flexible phone may come sooner than you think.

For more information, read our full story: Phones with bendable, flexible screens are closer than you think