The design replace the chocolate bar smartphones’ models with the old-school clamshell styles of the 1990s – Photo Credits: Akihiro Yoshida
Materials & Techniques – Leather lined, inch-worm device with an OLED screen
The Slide-Phone uses folding technology to enhance the portability and exploit the compactness of the device. Like an inchworm, the phone makes use of three hinges to slide sideways, transformed by a user’s one-thumb operation. Each of the hinges is covered with suede leather.
When folded down the phone measures roughly the same as a credit card – 54 mm x 86 mm. Sliding the second fold reveals a further 80 millimetres of the screen and allows the user to make use of the camera, located at the top of the device. In its largest state, a 7-inch screen turns into an operating panel with touch screen buttons. In this mode, users can operate on several apps displayed in a row.
When folded down the phone measures 54 mm x 86 mm and reachs 7-inch as its largest state – Photo Credits: Akihiro Yoshida
Style & Aesthetics – Sleek and Shiny
Like any other smartphone, the thin touch screen Slide-Phone is sleek and shiny, with an ergonomic design that slightly curves at the edges. The use of suede was intended to give the Slide-Phone a more natural feel, while the exterior is coloured in black, silver, safe green and brick red – calming tones selected for the way they complement the leather.
The phone can be transformed by a user’s one-thumb operation – Photo Credits: Akihiro Yoshida
Like a piece of paper
The inspiration behind Nendo’s slide-phone hinge system, which makes sliding from different modes extremely easy, was paper. Nendo wanted the phone to feel like a notepad, with the action of opening and closing the screen like flipping a page. There is also a slot in the side of the phone where a stylus can be taken out and used as a pen on the touchscreen.
The Japanese studio took inspiration from paper and created a phone that feel like a notepad – Photo Credits: Akihiro Yoshida
Design memento – A family of products designed with UX and portability in mind
Alongside the Slide-Phone, Nendo has also designed a mobile accessory collection called Mobile-Link, inspired by a pair of true wireless earphones. The collection includes a smartwatch, an AI speaker, a portable charger, and a wireless charger all designed to enhance the user experience.
For example, the two earbuds click together to form a doughnut shape while a dedicated neck strap can be fed through the hole at the centre of the two attached earbuds, allowing the wearer to wear them like a necklace.
The phone has three hinges to slide sideways that creates all different uses – Photo Credits: Akihiro Yoshida
Writer’s Comment – The jury’s out
Whether or not folding smartphones will take the lead over chocolate bar models remains to be seen, so a concept like Nendo’s Slide-Phone is still very much welcome. More than its ability to unfold, however, I prefer the page-like ease in which it does so – an element that is very much reflective of Nendo’s ability to create moments of pleasure and aesthetic satisfaction.
Kieron is a freelance writer and Digital Consultant who doesn't consider himself a design lover but a user of design - which to him is more than enough.