Vivo Patents Smartphone With Sliding Mechanism: Threat To Foldable Phones?

Foldable smartphones have been trending for a while now with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Fold, and so on. Now, as a new concept design, smartphones with sliding mechanism are surfacing online. Vivo has patented a new smartphone with an automated slider mechanism. Surprisingly, the design is quite similar to that of the Oppo Find X.

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Vivo Slider Smartphone Features

However, there's a stark difference between the patent Vivo slider phone and the Oppo Find X. The Vivo smartphone patented design showcases a different OEM, reports GizmoChina. Going into the design details, the new Vivo slider smartphone features a full-screen body, like all smartphones.

But there's no punch-hole design for the selfie camera, nor is there a sensor on the screen. Instead, the design reveals extremely thin bezels on the sides of the Vivo slider smartphone. Other details of the smartphone reveal a quad-camera setup on the rear. However, the primary sensor is separated from the three cameras.

This means that the main sensor could be part of the sliding mechanism. The cameras are placed in a triangular cutout. This is the part that slides upwards and the key differentiating factor from the Oppo Find X. This triangular portion lifts and reveals a single round cutout underneath it, which could be the LED flash.

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At the same time, it's unlikely that Vivo is placing the slider mechanism for just a flash. What's more curious is that when the sliders are raised, no other sensors or cutouts are revealed on the front either. So what is the slider mechanism for?

A couple of speculations reveal that Vivo might feature an under-display camera for selfies. There's also a possibility that Vivo might sport a smaller secondary display as well, something that we've seen on foldable smartphones. The slider mechanism might further even slide up for new functions as well.

Will Slider Smartphones Overtake Foldable Ones?

That's unlikely to happen as foldable phones are currently an exciting entity in the smartphone market. On the other hand, the slider mechanism on smartphones is yet to surface more than just rumors and speculations.

What's more, like all rumors and speculations, the new Vivo slider smartphone may or may not even hit the final stage of production. There's also no confirmation if Vivo is working on the slider smartphone or not. We suggest that readers take it with a grain of salt.