Xiaomi has recently filed a patent that shows it is working on a new smartphone featuring a rotating selfie camera. This patent was filed in China National Intellectual Property in November 2020, and 91mobiles could access it this week.
According to the leaked images, the phone has a standard design like any other smartphone in the market. The screen completely covers the front panel, and there is a circular camera at the back. It seems that the phone doesn’t have multiple cameras, and it comes with only two modules.
Moreover, Xiaomi’s possible phone supports USB Type-C, and it has a speaker grille at the bottom edges. But what draws attention to this patent is a rotating selfie camera. The camera has a semicircular shape, and it can rotate 180-degrees from the top frame.
In the images, two front camera modules are visible. So the selfie camera would be the turning point for the phone. The way it works is also simple. You need to open the camera app and choose the selfie camera. The camera shows up by rotating for 180-degrees.
In recent years, Xiaomi has filed many patents with a strange design or camera’s weird mechanism. One of the recent patents filed by Xiaomi demonstrates three phones with a slider design and rotating pop-up cameras. Using an under-display flip camera is another thing that Xiaomi is looking for.
Xiaomi’s phone with a rotating selfie camera is in development
The phone is still in development, and we don’t know when it can hit the shelves. But it seems that the Chinese OEM is serious about launching phones with innovative designs. Xiaomi has a similar experience with Mi 9T, a phone with a pop-up selfie camera.
Having a selfie camera with the ability to rotate 180-degrees has some advantages and disadvantages. The good thing is the whole front panel is dedicated to the screen, and we will have a slick display. But the downside is the camera needs to use a motor for rotating. Any interruption in the motor functionality can turn the selfie camera into a worthless piece.
Xiaomi is not the only company that is going to introduce a phone with rotating or pop-up cameras. Its Chinese counterpart OPPO has taken a similar approach, and it has filed some patents for a phone with a rotating selfie camera.