The concept of smartphones with front and rear displays comes from several years ago. We say the very intriguing smartphone, the Yotaphone introduces this with an e-Ink secondary display. We also saw ZTE expanding this concept with its M series and Nubia with its Z20. However, since the arrival of the foldable smartphones, we saw this dual-screen concept losing some ground in the industry, but then Xiaomi brought it back to the range of regular smartphones with its Xiaomi 11 Ultra. The Chinese firm introduced a tiny AMOLED screen at the rear of its flagship that serves as a viewfinder when taking selfies. The company’s upcoming Xiaomi 12 Ultra may repeat this feature, and according to new design patents (LetsGoDigital), Oppo is also looking into exploring this segment.
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Recently, Oppo has finally received a patent for a smartphone with an under-display camera. Now, the company is securing the rights for three more smartphone designs with rear displays. All three smartphones have a secondary display within the camera island. This kind of design suggests the same use-case scenario we see on the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. The secondary display is basically a viewfinder that allows you to use the main camera to capture your selfies. Of course, it’s up to companies to implement features that expand these scenarios.
These designs may be years away from becoming a reality
Unfortunately, we don’t think these solutions will come with the Oppo Find X5 series. Considering the rumors that suggest these devices for the first quarter of 2021, we assume that they already went through the manufacturing process. These patents are often concepts or ideas that can make them into real products or not. Therefore, the Oppo patents can never see the light of the day, and the company can be just securing these ideas. However, if anything actually comes from these designs, it’s probably some years away.
Oppo might borrow the use of a secondary display from the clamshell foldable – a small panel for notifications, selfies, and AOD. There’s no word in the patents, issued by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), about whether these screens are touch-sensitive or not.
For now, Oppo will be busy with the release of the new Oppo Find X5 series. According to Digital Chat Station, there are three variants coming under this series. One will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, another the Dimensity 9000, and the third is still unknown. Furthermore, Oppo is also preparing a new folding smartphone with a horizontal hinge. This one will compete against the Huawei P50 Pocket.
