Huawei patent takes curved display design to new extreme

Curved displays have become a staple of Huawei’s premium flagships, but they serve more for aesthetics than a practical feature. However, a new patent suggests that future Huawei phones could take this design to the extreme while adding utility.

Seen from LetsGoDigital, the patent describes a display that occupies the front and sides of the phone. The sliver of the screen on each edge also contains touch controls that replace physical volume, power, and trigger buttons. The edges of the display would be sensitive to different pressure levels.

Notably, Huawei added virtual buttons to the Mate 30 Pro, but the system was messy and unnecessary. Fortunately, it returned to physical buttons a year later.

Huawei Curved Display Patent: The Pros and Cons

Using the screen in this way has its advantages. While physical buttons are primarily limited to individual functions, Huawei’s concept could allow its phone to customize functionality based on the app, activity, or situation currently running. I would also stand out aesthetically, especially when looking at the phone from the side.

However, the negatives cannot be ignored. Huawei would need intelligent touch suppression to prevent users from accidentally activating menus and virtual buttons. Since the display doubles as buttons, dropping this phone would be a nightmare.

Huawei isn’t the first company to envision a phone with such a display design. Xiaomi recently submitted a quad curved phone and also has the wrap-around Mi Mix Alpha under its belt. In 2019, Oppo’s “waterfall” screen concept made its debut.

It is unclear if or when this Huawei patent could appear on a consumer-grade smartphone. This patent was filed in 2019, so the company has been working on it for quite some time. However, three years later, the industry is slowly swapping curved displays for ones that can be folded.

But what do you think of Huawei’s patented design for curved displays? Vote in our poll above!