- Oppo has filed four patents showing phones that fold in different ways.
- The display of the telephones is divided into different folding blocks.
Foldable and flexible displays have certainly caused a design evolution in the smartphone industry. OEMs are now experimenting with radical designs and recently granted Oppo patents are evidence of how different smartphones could look in the future.
The Chinese phone manufacturer has filed four designs with the Japanese Patent Office (h / t) Gizmochina), which show the telephones that can be folded down several times. The designs envision smartphone displays that can be folded into different states with the help of a block-like structure.
The first patent (pictured below) shows a phone divided into six blocks with one hinge in the middle and one above it. It can be folded up like a clam shell or partially closed from above to keep part of the screen visible to the user. The cameras are located on the lowest block and remain visible at all times when looking at the screen. The SIM tray, charging port, and speakers are under the last block where the cameras are.
The second patent application also shows a zigzag foldable phone that is divided into six blocks. It uses a flexible display and two hinges to flip both in and out. In a fully folded state, part of the display is folded into the body and another part faces out. The device can also be partially folded so that part of the phone acts like a stand. The camera module of this phone is on the outside of the first block.
The third patent application shows a larger phone that is divided into eight instead of six blocks. Thanks to its two-hinge mechanism, it can be folded in half or partially from the top inwards.
The fourth patent shows a similar phone with an eight block structure with two hinges. In contrast to the telephone in the third patent, however, this one has a camera setup.
It’s important to note that while these smartphone designs appear pretty out of the box, they are only patents and there are no guarantees that they will ever make it into production. That said, we wouldn’t withhold companies from adopting some crazy designs in the future as foldable phones grow in popularity and become more accessible to users.
Another challenge with such foldable phone designs could be durability. We have seen early leaflets with hinge issues before, and they only offered one hinge. So manufacturers have to do their job for them if they want to install multiple hinges.
Next: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 Review – The Only Folding Phone to Buy
