In 2011, years before foldables were a serious product category, and long before Samsung, Motorola, or anyone else made bendable screens part of the mainstream toolbox, Sony released one of the strangest pieces of mobile hardware in its long history.
The Sony Tablet P, part of the short-lived Sony Tablet line, was a dual-screen Android device shaped like an oversized glasses case. It folded in half, snapped shut with a clean clamshell click, and promised a future where tablets were no longer flat slabs but pocketable, flexible, and playful. It was bold, charming, deeply compromised, and it collapsed almost instantly.
The Tablet P featured two 5.5-inch LCDs stacked vertically, with a thick hinge separating them. When unfolded, the device looked like a Nintendo DS built for adults. Sony imagined Android apps stretching across both panels like a book, movies playing letterboxed across the divide, and games taking advantage of the bottom screen for controls.
In theory, this was sort of clever. In practice, it was a reminder that Android in 2011 had absolutely no idea what to do with two displays, an issue that still persists. Apps did not scale correctly, menus snapped to one display or hid behind black bars, and video playback looked like someone sliced a movie in half with shears. The hinge gap created a dead zone that no developer ever designed around.
Where the Nintendo DS embraced a dual-screen identity, the Tablet P felt like two unrelated screens forced into a relationship neither one wanted. It wasn’t cheap either; Sony priced the Tablet P at $599 despite an awkward form factor, lukewarm reviews, and almost no app support.
The hardware was beautiful. The soft curves and glossy finish made it feel like a high-end gadget rather than a prototype, but no amount of polish could disguise the fact that the device was trying to sell a use case that did not exist.
When unfolded, it was too tall and narrow to be a good tablet, and when folded, it was still too bulky to fit comfortably in a pocket. As a gaming device, it lacked dedicated software; as a productivity device, the screen split ruined everything, and as a media player, the hinge gap mocked every attempt at immersion.
The Tablet P solved problems no one had and created ones no one wanted. Sony pitched the Tablet P as a PlayStation Certified device, part of a short experiment meant to bring classic PS1 games to Android. In theory, this could have given the tablet a killer niche: a folding, portable retro machine with a touchscreen control panel.
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- Photos courtesy of digit.in
But the PlayStation Certified program fizzled almost immediately. The store was understocked, support was inconsistent, and of course, touchscreen D-pads were and are a miserable experience. By the time the idea had legs, Sony had already moved on.
The Tablet P is remembered fondly today, not because it succeeded, but because it tried something visionary before the market was ready. Ten years later, foldable phones finally became a serious product category, but in 2011, the idea was pure science fiction stitched to off-the-shelf LCDs.
Sony wanted a world where tablets were compact, modular, and fun. The world wanted an iPad. The Tablet P never stood a chance.
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