Oppo finally received a patent for a phone with an under-display camera, and now the company secured the rights on three more designs. All of them have one thing in common: a rear display within the camera island. It is highly unlikely these solutions will be part of the Find X5 series, but we would love to see a revolution in the way we use smartphones, and hopefully, Oppo could lead it.
A display on the back is nothing new -
Meizu Pro 7 series brought a tall 2” Super AMOLED screen, while the Mi 11 Ultra
reused a 1.1” Mi Band 5 panel. And let’s not forget the vivo NEX Dual Display
with two full-size displays on both sides, as well as every foldable phone.
We think Oppo might borrow the use of a
secondary display from the clamshell foldables - small panel for notifications,
selfies, and AOD. There’s no word in the patents, issued by WIPO (World
Intellectual Property Organisation), about whether these screens are
touch-sensitive or not.
All these camera and display designs look
lovely but there’s a high chance of Oppo certifying them only to stop
competitors from ever using them. This isn’t new or unexpected in the world of
manufacturing, and Oppo is just doing whatever it can to protect itself from
competition in an environment where any new design triggers an avalanche of
copycats.