LG killed its smartphones 5 years ago, but the ‘Rollable’ feels more real than ever [Video]

Ben Schoon | Apr 6 2026 - 8:55 am PT

This past weekend was the 5-year anniversary of the death of LG’s smartphone business, and yet, we’re just now seeing a new look at the company’s unreleased “Rollable” that makes it more clear than ever before just how ready this device was.

Back in 2021, well before the crisis Android brands face in today’s smartphone market, LG threw in the towel on its smartphone business. The company shut down production of new devices and, while it did provide software updates for a while, even those have now dried up. In an ever-consolidating market for Android phones, LG is still missed, especially when you consider some of the brand’s wacky concepts.

The likes of the LG Wing, for example, still haven’t been attempted by other brands.

Another unique option LG was cooking up was the Rollable, an expanding-display smartphone the company was teasing in the months prior to the shutdown. The LG Rollable was never released or even officially, fully announced, but one unit did make its way online back in 2022. Fast-forward to today and everyone’s favorite phone torturer, JerryRigEverything, has also gotten a unit on camera, including an in-depth look at the engineering behind this device that just makes it feel so much more real.

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In the video, we get a closer look at how the LG Rollable’s display expands, with a clear benefit being much more room for video playback.

The video also clearly shows some of the downsides, such as the soft plastic (with ultra-thin glass underneath) of the outward-facing display. As seen previously, that slides underneath a real glass panel on the back of the device. Still, not great for a pocketable device.

The motors are shown to be very strong, easily pushing heavy objects across the table, with safeguards in place if you try to forcibly resist the device from opening.

It’s cool enough to see the LG Rollable in action again – even Samsung still hasn’t figured out how to release one of these, where LG’s concept really seems like it was ready to go on sale five years ago – but, as you’d expect, the video then goes on to tear the device down and show what’s going on inside.

A pair of exposed screws starts the process, at which point we can start to see LG’s engineering at work. Bristles inside of the rear glass keep dust out, with “zipper-like” supports to hold the display in place as it rolls and unrolls.

Easily the coolest bit here is seeing the exposed motor pushing the frame of the device to let the display expand. A quick swipe on the deconstructed device shows the little spring-loaded arms inside expanding the frame as the motor drives the device in either direction.

The motor component consists of two small motors on geared tracks, explaining how the rolling action is so strong.

The whole video is absolutely worth a watch, both as a reminder of how far LG had come with this device, and as a reminder of what the Android world lost when the company threw in the towel.

RIP LG, we do miss you.