A high school student in China has amazed everyone with an incredible feat: Lan Bowen, a student at Yiling High School in Yichang, Hubei, built a foldable smartphone at home. Remarkably, he constructed the phone using a 3D printer. This innovation has sparked significant buzz on social media, with people praising his talent.
A Unique Foldable Phone, Built from Scratch
Bowen explained that while the market offers various vertical and horizontal foldable phones, none featured a screen that displayed outward when folded. To address this gap, he decided to create a new vertical foldable phone. For this project, Bowen utilized a 3D printer costing approximately 24,000 Rupees to create the frame. He then sourced other phone components from old mobile phones and ordered necessary materials online.
Bowen first shared a video of his 16mm thick foldable phone on Chinese social media on February 16th. Since then, his innovation has gone viral.
The Challenge of a Functional Touchscreen
According to Bowen, his biggest challenge was making the touchscreen functional. Initially, the touchscreen wouldn't work when the phone was unfolded. To resolve this, he repeatedly redesigned the phone and conducted rigorous testing. Bowen mentioned that the screen malfunctioned several times during this process, but he ultimately succeeded in creating a phone with all the functions of a standard smartphone. However, his model is still in its early stages, and further improvements are needed.
Vivo Impressed, Social Media Adores
Bowen's innovative work has garnered significant praise on Chinese social media. Even Vivo, a popular Chinese smartphone company, was impressed. Vivo commented on his video, stating, "This is fantastic work! We hope you continue creating such innovative projects."
Bowen's creativity demonstrates the remarkable achievements possible when young people combine new technology with creative thinking. It remains to be seen how far Bowen will take his innovation and whether a major smartphone company will adopt his idea in the future.
