Oppo Foldable Smartphone Design Patent Reveals Dual-Hinge Mechanism And Blocks

Foldable smartphones are currently in vogue and will likely continue to evolve in terms of design and performance. While companies like Samsung and Motorola currently dominate the foldable smartphone segment, other OEMs are set to join in, including Oppo. Several Oppo foldable smartphone designs have been patented, indicating a development in progress.

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Oppo Foldable Smartphone Design

So far, we've seen a couple of standard foldable smartphone designs, including the flip design on the Moto Razr. The patented Oppo foldable smartphone design, in contrast, is quite unique. The company has patented four designs and they all feature a solid block structure and multiple folds.

Going into the details, the first design features six blocks and double hinges, which lets the phone fold inwards. The dual-hinge design allows the phone to be folded completely or in half. The second foldable smartphone design also features a dual-hinge mechanism and six blocks, where the top part folds inwards and the bottom half folds outwards. This design further shrinks the phone size, allowing users to easily fit it in their pockets.

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The third patented design includes eight blocks and a similar dual-hinge setup, where both the hinges fold outward. The fourth patented foldable smartphone design also includes a dual-hinge mechanism and eight blocked. However, this device can fold only inwards with no option to open outwards.

Oppo Foldable Smartphone Design: Camera Details

Apart from the hinge mechanism and the block design, the patented Oppo foldable smartphone design also places the camera in a unique design. One will find dual- and triple-camera setup on a few of these models. Additionally, the third patented design has skipped the camera placement completely. For all we know, it could hold an under-display camera, which is another up and coming technology on smartphones.

Oppo Foldable Smartphone: What To Expect

For now, the Oppo foldable smartphone is still in its infancy. A patented design doesn't necessarily mean it would see the light of day. Moreover, there are several other issues to consider for these foldable designs, including the software aspect. Having such a uniquely designed smartphone is surely exciting, but if you don't have any apps that support it make it meaningless.

(via)