With its XD Rollable concept, Lenovo took the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6's basic design and made it even more futuristic by allowing its flexible display to wrap around onto its lid.
With its XD Rollable concept, Lenovo took the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6's basic design and made it even more futuristic by allowing its flexible display to wrap around onto its lid. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
Lenovo has experimented more with laptops featuring rollable displays than pretty much any other PC maker and at CES 2026 it’s keeping that trend going with the XD Rollable Concept.
Equipped with a 180-degree Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover, the XD Rollable concept features a very futuristic design. However, underneath, it has the same basic engineering as last year’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6. That means with the touch of a button, its 13.3-inch flexible OLED display can expand to 16 inches, which gives you around 50 percent extra screen space in just a few seconds. The main difference with Lenovo’s latest concept is that instead of hiding the unused section of its rollable display underneath its keyboard, the XD’s panel wraps up and over its lid to create a “world-facing” display around back. This allows people sitting on the other side of the laptop to see content, with the laptop capable of mirroring elements from its main display or using that space as a small secondary monitor.
Now I will admit that after seeing the XD Rollable in person, its design does feel a bit gimmicky. Even though Lenovo’s space-themed animation that appears when the laptop’s display extends is pretty slick, I’m not sure how helpful that world-facing display really is. In normal use, you can’t even see it because it’s on the other side of the lid and while I suppose you could utilize that area for meetings or presentations, I think most people would be much better off simply connecting the notebook to a dedicated secondary monitor or projector.
When expanded, the XD Rollable concept's 13.3-inch screen increases to 16 inches. The spaceman animation that plays when the XD Rollable's screen gets larger is a nice touch. In clamshell mode, the XD Rollable looks almost like any other standard laptop. The coolest thing about the XD Rollable might be the exposed gears and pulleys used to expand its display. Because it uses a flexible panel, the top edge of the XD Rollable's display supports touch input. You can even use the top part of the XD Rollable's display when the laptop is closed. Lenovo partnered with Corning to give the XD Rollable a Gorilla Glass display to protect its flexible panel. Even if the XD Rollable never turns into a retail product, I hope Lenovo retains some of its design language for future gadgets. 1 / 8 Lenovo XD Rollable concept display When expanded, the XD Rollable concept's 13.3-inch screen increases to 16 inches.
That said, I do like that contrary to the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6, by exposing the unused part of the XD Rollable’s display when it’s not extended, you get a little bit of extra value out of it. At the very least, it beats stashing the rest of the panel underneath the keyboard where it won’t be seen at all. On top of that, I like the look of having no bezel along the top of the display and you can even use touch controls on the edge of the display to control widgets or expand its flexible screen. Interestingly, the coolest part about the XD Rollable might not even be its screen, but the motors and rails that Lenovo uses to extend its display, which are easily seen beneath its glass design.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the rest of the XD Rollable is very down to earth with it featuring a comfy keyboard and a decent-sized touchpad. The main downsides are that its glass lid makes the concept a bit heavier than a more traditional 13-inch notebook and you only get two USB-C ports. But considering that Lenovo isn’t planning to put this thing into production, that lack of connectivity or info regarding its specs shouldn’t come as a big surprise.
... continue reading