Last week we came across a patent filed by the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi suggesting that the company wants to make a foldable phone with both – a foldable screen and a wrap-around display.
However, it seems that this is not the only design for a foldable phone that the company seems to be working upon. While some time back we saw that Xiaomi has patented different foldable designs in bulk which somewhat were inspired by the Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, now we have another report that the company has patented designs that are similar to the Galaxy Z Flip.
A report by the good folks at LetsGoDigital suggests that Xiaomi has got a couple of clamshell designs inspired by the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip or the Moto Razr. The benefit of going with a clamshell design is that the phone, when folded, becomes compact and pocketable.
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Like the Galaxy Z Flip, the Patent documents suggest that one of the two Xiaomi phones could come with a secondary and smaller display to show alerts and notifications on the outer flap coupled with a dual-camera setup, while the other one might skip the secondary display in favour of an additional camera sensor.
Foldable yet affordable
Going by the patent documents, the first device that has a secondary display, like the Mi 11 Ultra, housed on a horizontal camera island that is slightly raised from the base. The tiny touch-sensitive display can show alerts and can also help receive or reject calls without needing to open the flap.
The dual rear camera module is expected to come without a telephoto lens and instead may house a wide-angle and an ultra-wide-angle lens. There could be a dual-selfie camera setup housed on the top-left of the inner foldable panel. The primary screen on this phone could be a 6.7-inch Ultra-Thin Glass made by Samsung.
Since this could be slightly premium out of the phones being discussed here, it could come with a 108 MP primary camera and a flagship-grade chipset.
The second device is expected to carry a similar design language, however- could be a stripped-down variant with some compromises to keep the cost in check. Some of the most prominent ones, according to the patent document, are the lack of a secondary display and a mid-range chipset.
Xiaomi could use a similar panel for this device, and it may still come with a dual front-facing camera. Though in the rear panel, you might see a triple camera setup housed in a circular camera module.
The primary idea behind using the clamshell design is that it can protect the flexible display slightly better than the standard design as with these designs the foldable part is comparatively lesser on such phones. Aside from the clamshell design it makes it easier to carry a large-screened device in the pockets and can be slightly cheaper when compared to other tablet-like foldables.
That being said, since these are patents, we can’t be sure about these designs seeing the light of the day. Hence need to take these with the proverbial pinch of salt.
