Vivo’s new patent shows a smartphone with a detachable camera

In order to further increase the proportion of smartphone screens, various smartphone manufacturers are working hard to reduce the space occupied by the front cameras. We have seen several solutions such as the notch, waterdrop, punch-hole, etc. However, the latest of these is the under-screen technology. Nevertheless, the industry will not stop at the under-screen camera technology. There are still attempts to release newer full-screen technologies.  A few days ago, Letsgodigital exposed a new design patent of Vivo. This new patent shows an unprecedented design – a Vivo smartphone with a detachable camera.

The report shows out that Vivo applied to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on February 24, 2021, and was published on September 2, 2021. The patent abstract shows that the device body of the present invention includes a device casing and a display. The device body has an installation space and a functional module.

This module contains a dual camera with flash and a display with touch functionality on the other side. Users can insert the detachable camera module in different parts of the device. It can be at the top or in the middle. This camera module will not fall out because of a magnetic attraction. There are three options for handling this camera module available.

Ways of handling the smartphone with a detachable camera

In the first mode, the detachable module takes a position such that the secondary display faces the front. This screen has the same specifications as the main screen – think of the resolution, number of pixels and refresh rate. This way, the user experiences a full screen experience. In the first mode, the dual camera faces the rear to capture photo and video recordings.

In the second mode, the removable module rotates 180 degrees. Thus, the dual-camera can face the front and takes high-resolution selfies. Because as it concerns a dual camera with different lenses (presumably a wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lens), this setup can also capture group selfies.

On the underside of the module, there are connectors that make contact with the housing to supply the module with power. The housing has 10 connectors, which are in two rows with 5 contact points each. Depending on how the module fixes into the housing (camera facing to the front or rear), it automatically contacts one row of connectors. This allows the smartphone to know the positioning of the module.

Finally, there is also a third mode. The module can also be used separately from the smartphone. In this case, the small detachable camera module can be used to take pictures remotely. The small screen on the back of the module can be used for operation. Alternatively, you can also use the smartphone screen to take remote photos, zoom in, etc.