Some new images have cropped up on China’s social network Weibo, purportedly showing off a new OLED panel from BOE featuring a notch reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone X. The images, which were posted by Kumamoto Technology earlier this month, are said to be of a display with a 6.18-inch diagonal. There’s no mention as to whether that panel is being pictured on any specific device or whether the product shown is just a proof of concept from the Chinese manufacturer, but the word “BOE” is clearly imprinted on the display. Although the images should be taken with a grain of salt, pending some form of official reveal from the company regarding their authenticity, the company is known to be developing and producing AMOLED displays for the country’s largest handset makers. Moreover, by the year 2022, some analysts expect BOE to be one of three major Chinese companies to begin eating away at competitors’ (read: Samsung’s) market share with regard to OLED displays. BOE is expected to own as much as 15 percent of the market by that point. So, it may not be too much of a stretch to assume that the images are the real deal.
Aside from the general screen size, the display shown in the images is reported to be set at a 2K resolution of 2,992 by 1,440 pixels. However, beyond that, the screen is claimed to have a lower brightness than some leading competitors, at 390 nits compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8’s 477 nits. It also has a lower pixel-per-inch rating of only 537, as compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8’s 571. With that said, it bears a much higher pixel density than some other competing devices – such as Apple’s iPhone X – which has a display set at 458ppi with a resolution of 2,436 x 1,125.
Meanwhile, the AMOLED display shown is also estimated to be much more affordable than those on offer from competing display manufacturers, which would make it exceptionally appealing to smartphone manufacturers looking to offer better specifications to their customers at a lower cost. As BOE continues to ramp up production, improving the efficiency and output of its OLED displays, those prices will likely drop further. So, the images portrayed here could, if accurate, represent the beginning of an end to the disparity between high-end and budget smartphones in terms of display quality in the industry.
