Royole has unveiled its second-generation Flexpai, and it brings a more durable hinge and a flexible screen which it claims is the most "colour rich" display on any foldable phone. 

The first Flexpai, you might remember, was one of the very first foldable smartphones to be announced by any company, and featured a display that wrapped around the outside of the phone when shut. Similar in theory to the Huawei Mate X and XS

This latest model was announced in China this week and Royole has built an updated hinge into it. In the press release Royole describes it as being a seamless and stepless 180-degree hinge, meaning it's smooth to open and shut. 

It's made from materials like liquid metal and an aluminium titanium alloy, making it lightweight and durable. 

What's more, the display panel itself has been tested to withstand a lot of folding and unfolding. In fact, it can cope with 1.8 million folds, according to the manufacture. 

Royole's FlexPai 2 brings faster touch response and a more durable hinge to the foldable phone market photo 3

The screen isn't just "colour rich", but also one of the brightest flexible panels out there with a response time of just 0.4ms, making it one of the most touch-responsive foldables on the market too. 

When fully-open, the big screen measures 7.8-inches, turning into that now-familiar square mini-tablet look, but when shut that display forms a more traditional smartphone experience. 

There's a quad-camera system built into the phone to give you the versatility and various focal lengths to choose from, plus there's USB-C fast-charging and a 4,500mAh battery. 

Royole's FlexPai 2 brings faster touch response and a more durable hinge to the foldable phone market photo 1

In terms of power, it's equipped with the flagship Snapdragon 865 processor from Qualcomm, which in turn means it supports 5G too. 

FlexPai 2 is being launched initially in China in Cosmic Grey, Midnight Black and Sunrise Gold colour variants and will cost RMB 9988 which is around $1,430 in the US or £1,160 in the UK.