The Royale FlexPai will beat Samsung Galaxy X to 'first foldable phone' title

The world's first foldable phone isn't going to be the Samsung Galaxy X, instead it's the FlexPai from Royale, and it'll be officially launched on January 7 at CES 2019.

We already know a lot of the specs for the FlexPai as it was announced in China back in November 2018, but this is the first worldwide launch for the phone and we'll be reporting live from Royale's press conference to bring you everything you need to know about the futuristic device.

The Royale FlexPai is a phone-tablet hybrid, with a large 7.8-inch, 1920 x 1440 AMOLED display which can be folded in half to provide a 4-inch smartphone-like form factor.

It won't fold fully flat though, with a hinge bend in the screen creating a wedge shape when in 'phone' mode.

What we know so far

You'll also get either 6GB or 8GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of storage, a flagship-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset (although the exact model is yet to be confirmed), dual 20MP + 16MP rear cameras, fingerprint scanner and a 3,800mAh battery.

There's currently no word on the Royale FlexPai release date or price, but we're hoping these details will be revealed at the press conference on January 7.

Royale is currently selling a developer version of the FlexPai for $1,318 for the 128GB model, or an eye-watering $1,469 for 256GB of storage - and we expect the final consumer version to cost around the same.

We're reporting live from CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada for the entire week, and we'll be bringing you all the latest from the world's biggest tech show, including a hands on: Royale FlexPai review.