We've seen patents from Chinese brands
suggesting that smartphones with in-display selfie cameras are coming this
year. Most recently a Huawei patent showed that the company may be working on a
phone similar to its Huawei Mate 30 Pro, with no physical buttons, and an
under-display selfie camera.
A new patent that another Chinese giant,
TCL, had filed in late December 2019 has been released today. Thanks to
LetsGoDigital, we can see that TCL too is in the works of a smartphone that may
be its first take on the new trend in smartphone technology.
In the patent photos, the front of the
phone is shown to feature symmetrical, minimal bezels and rounded corners, no
notches or pop-up cameras. A fingerprint sensor, much like the selfie camera,
is also likely to be embedded into the screen. Similarly to the smartphone in
the previously-mentioned Huawei patent, this one will have no buttons, and
users will have to rely on gestures instead.
The top of the phone shows that there
isn't a Power key, neither a headphone jack. On the bottom we have a standard
USB Type-C port, a single bottom-firing speaker, and a SIM card tray. On the
back of the phone are either 6 camera modules, or what is more likely, 4
cameras with double LED flash. At the time, it appears TCL was considering
arranging the cameras horizontally instead of vertically, with only two of the
four being paired in a pill-shaped module.
We're yet to see if TCL is among the first
to introduce a consumer smartphone with an in-display camera this year. The
company is known for releasing smartphones under the Alcatel and BlackBerry
brands, in addition to releasing phones under its own TCL name. Most recently,
TCL made its highly affordable TCL 10 Pro and TCL 10L handsets available in the
US.
