Motorola’s bendy phone/watch is as stupid as it sounds — Explained

Oh Motorola, what are you doing?

The Lenovo-owned company is going great guns in the smartphone world, and recently returned to the smartwatch game after a long hiatus.

Now, for some reason, it’s exploring a device that could be a hybrid of the two. And it looks like a recipe for disaster.

A solution no-one asked for

As FreeYork reports, Motorola has patented a so-called “Pivoting Wearable Reconfigurable Screen”.

It’s an otherwise normal-looking smartwatch design with a huge twist: the strap doubles as a massive, wraparound screen. When unfolded, the two halves of the strap would come together, creating a smartphone-esque screen.

In theory, anyway. In reality, this would be a terrible idea on a number of different levels.

First up: durability. The fragile displays of smartwatches are already very vulnerable – you have to be so careful to avoid bumps and scratches from quickly taking their toll. In this concept, the problem is around 4x worse, and it could be a disaster if any part of your wrist scrapes a wall or other hard surface. How could you possibly enjoy a device which you have to be so vigilant about?

I can’t work out how battery life would be even passable on a hybrid like this

Oh, and let’s not forget the crease. If the patent diagrams are accurate, it’s less of a crease and more like a chasm between two sides of the display. Which makes sense, as you’re literally sticking two bits of screen next to each other. But if you thought the very prominent creases on early folding phones were annoying, just wait until you’d experience this!

Then there’s the likely battery life issue. Most Wear OS smartwatches barely last a day or two, despite being a pared-back version of the Android OS on your phone. Unless there’s a sudden, massive improvement in battery tech, I can’t work out how battery life would be even passable on a hybrid like this.

Last, but very much not least, is price. The incredible engineering required to make a device like this possible would almost certainly make it exorbitantly expensive. With RAMageddon already sending phone and watch prices skyrocketing, why would you want to make tech even less affordable?

It probably goes without saying, but I believe a pretty horrendous concept, especially in the current climate.

Not its first rodeo

A concept like this isn’t completely original. Indeed, Motorola itself teased a similar-looking device at the MWC tech show in 2024. Known as the “bendy phone”, it adopted a more traditional smartphone form factor, yet literally bent over backwards to allow it to be snapped onto your wrist.

Tech Advisor’s Managing Editor, Chris Martin, checked it out at the time and wasn’t impressed, describing it as “the most stupid smartwatch I’ve ever seen”. In discussing this new patent, he said he’s “surprised they are revisiting it”. Couldn’t agree more!

even putting the time and resources into patenting such a design is a massive waste

A product that actually made it to market also serves as a stark warning. ZTE’s Nubia Alpha smartwatch was released in 2019, boasting a flexible 4.01-inch display in a similar design to the Motorola patent. But the awkward design, compromised software experience and cameras and high price meant it was soon discontinued. I don’t see how Motorola would be able to address any of these fundamental flaws.

Moreover, why would it want to? Modern smartwatches have already pretty much perfected the ‘smartphone on your wrist’ experience, offering all the core tools in a much more intuitive form factor. And if you opt for an LTE model, you can easily leave your smartphone at home and still receive all your usual calls, texts and emails.

Of course, Motorola is just exploring this as an idea, and there appears to be little chance of it coming to market anytime soon. But even putting the time and resources into patenting such a design is a massive waste. I get that brands need to stand out, but gimmicks like this aren’t the way to do it.