Xiaomi’s new smartphone patent shows a dual camera at bottom of the display

Smartphone's design patents never fail to amaze us. While these patents do not always translate to real-world working models, they give a good sneak peek inside the mind of creative design engineers who work hard to make them a reality. Having said that, a new patent filed by Xiaomi shows a different approach towards achieving a full-screen design, which is the latest trend in the smartphone industry.

Unlike other Chinese brands- OPPO and Vivo who are relying on elevating (pop-up) camera modules to deliver an immersive viewing experience, Xiaomi's new patent shows a dual-lens camera placed at the bottom of the display. This is in line with the company's previous Mi Mix flagship smartphone that also offered a front-facing camera placed at the bottom of the display. However, this time around, the selfie camera is aided by a secondary lens and the camera setup is placed inside a notch.

The design patents filed by Xiaomi are reported by LetsGoDigital. The report mentions that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has filed two design patents which were applied at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office).

First published on March 29, 2019, the new patents filed by Xiaomi show a smartphone with a sleek design. Instead of placing the dual-lens camera module at the top or inside any housing, the first patent shows a dual-lens camera placed at the bottom of the display right at the center. This is quite an odd place to place the front-facing camera as it will affect the process of taking a selfie shot, something we experienced with Xiaomi's Mi Mix handset.

The second patent shows a design where two camera sensors are placed at the bottom of the screen but at either corner of the display, and also inside small notches. The first-of-its-kind design seems quite interesting and aesthetically quite appealing. However, as it goes with most of the patents, we don't know yet whether this will translate to a real-world working model. Besides, what purpose the two camera sensors placed on either side will fulfill will be a thing to keep an eye upon if Xiaomi manages to create a real-world device based on the second patent.

The other design elements of the given patent show a dual-lens camera placed at the rear panel in the vertical fashion. Overall, the smartphone seems very sleek and might be priced in the upper price bracket. It is too early to give any concrete verdict on the functional part of the handset in the discussion as this is just the first stage of the patented design.

Notably, another patent filed by Xiaomi came into light in February 2019 where a truly bezel-less design was showcased with a curved display. The screen on this patented design was rounded off on all four sides and looked quite immersive. The patent was filed in January 2019 and has appeared in the Global Design Database of the WIPO in February 2019.

With these new patents in process, it is quite evident that Xiaomi is working on a number of designs to rival the full-screen smartphones by OPPO, Vivo, Honor and OnePlus in the year 2019. We will keep a close eye on the updates related to Xiaomi's new design patents. Stay tuned on GizBot.com.

Source: LetsGoDigital