A majority of you may not like the display notches or the punch-hole cutouts holding front cameras on smartphones. Brands don’t like that too and there’s work going on the under-display camera technology at the moment. However, OnePlus just filed a patent where it wants to push the front camera to the top bezels instead of trying t hide it under the display. A schematic shows the concept holding a tiny front camera on the top bezel. Also Read - OnePlus 9 series confirmed to include charging brick in the box unlike iPhone 12, Galaxy S21
The information comes from LetsGoDigital, a site that has a history of revealing various smartphone patents that usually don’t make it to the actual products. Hence, we can’t comment on whether OnePlus will even consider pulling off such a thing for its commercial smartphones. That said, the “in-bezel” camera concept is indeed cool and solves the OCD problems many have with notches and circular cutouts. Also Read - OnePlus’ March 23 OnePlus 9 series online launch event: Here’s what to expect
OnePlus plans to put the camera within the display bezels
The renders for the concept shows a tiny camera stuffed inside the top bezel of the display. This isn’t a new concept as Meizu previously tried the same with its flagship phones a few years ago. However, OnePlus seems to have figured out a way to keep the bezel narrow while holding the camera. Also Read - OnePlus 9 series global launch set for March 23 with big camera improvements
Source: LetsGoDigital
If the company plans to go ahead with this implementation for its commercial phones, we could once again have the pleasure of buying OnePlus phones with a fullscreen display experience. For those seeking a reminder, OnePlus relied on the pop-up camera mechanism for its OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 7T Pro to offer a distraction-free fullscreen experience.
Efforts to hide the front camera in the smartphone display has been on for a while. The ZTE Axon 20 5G is the first phone to feature a display that manages to hide the front camera underneath itself. Xiaomi and Oppo have currently shown concepts depicting their take on the technology. However, nobody knows when we can expect to see their versions commercially.
As for now, OnePlus is relying on the old-school punch-hole cutout for putting the front camera on all its phones. The OnePlus Nord goes for a pill-shaped cutout for holding its dual front cameras. The upcoming OnePlus 9 series is expected to retain the same punch-hole cutout for the front camera as well.
