True flexible dye-sensitized solar cell were fabricated and characterized. Titanium foil and indium tin oxide coated polyethylene naphthalate were used as the substrates for the photoanode and the counter electrode, respectively. Two types of titanium dioxide (TiO2) powders were used for making the photoanodes, namely, commercial TiO2 particles and homemade TiO2 mesoporous beads. Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was included in selected photoanodes to improve the electrical conductivity. The cells were fabricated with or without a TiO2 compact layer (CL). The effects of CL, RGO addition, and the use of mesoporous TiO2 beads on the cell performance are presented and discussed. We demonstrated that the optimized combination of CL, RGO, and the beads improves the cell efficiency by as much as 154%. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.