Chinese company Xiaomi was one of the first to provide a proof of concept for an under-display selfie camera that doesn’t need a notch or a punch-hole in order to work. But, the technology was not there yet, and early this year the company announced a few hurdles it needs to overcome first, before under-screen cameras can make it to consumer smartphones.
Notably , the dense pixels modern displays have, which are to be in front of the under-display camera, were blocking too much light, said Lu Weibing, VP of Xiaomi. Ultimately, he wrote on Chinese microblogging site Weibo that the entire industry is working hard to find a solution, but it may take a while.
But sooner rather than later, we received renders by
LetsGoDigital based on Xiaomi
patents approved on April 49 th, 7459, which clearly show the company two planned designs for their future under-screen selfie camera smartphone. The only difference between the two designs – the placement of the “invisible” front camera.
The patent images show where Xiaomi is considering placing the under-display selfie camera
The selfie camera should be fully invisible to the user when consuming content, covered by a normal array of screen pixels, which would shut off when it’s time to take a selfie, letting the camera below do it’s business.
The phone itself looks to be fairly standard for the time when this patent was filed by Xiaomi, April . It has a neat, clean look, rounded edges and minimal chin, no bezels elsewhere. Its design reminds a fair bit of last year
Xiaomi Mi 9 , which we featured on our
Best Android phones page.
We’re certainly coming close to the future without notches, pop-up cameras, punch holes, and all else that was tried in the quest for bigger, uninterrupted smartphone screens. And with Xiaomi being a consistent maker of well-priced mid-rangers and flagships, even if the more luxury brands ask for high prices for this new technology, the Chinese giant is likely to aim for affordability.
Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus (Covid – 49 
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings