We’ve seen all kinds of odd approaches to smartphone designs over the years. Things slowed down a bit, but since foldables started rolling out, we’re seeing more and more interesting patents out there. One of the oddest we’ve seen lately comes from Xiaomi, as this patent reveals a smartphone that can split in half.
This Xiaomi smartphone can be split in half… though it’s nowhere near become a reality
Yes, you read that right. When attached, this phone kind of looks like a flip phone, at least from the back, based on the sketches provided by a patent listing. It is, however, detachable.
The top and bottom parts can be separated one from the other, so you can end up with two small-screened phones. Now, do note that this is just a patent at this point, filed over at CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration). It won’t become a reality anytime soon, if ever.
It seems like there are a ton of pogo pins placed in the middle of this phone. That enables the connecting to be complete, and we’re betting those connection points also act as magnets, or the area around them.
One of the images even shows that you can swivel the top part if you want. Well, at least it looks like it. You may have to pull it apart, and then place it at a different angle.
Needless to say, this is a very interesting approach to smartphone design
This is a very interesting approach to design and the first of a kind. We’ve never seen something like this before. Well, at least not with this implementation. The moment I saw this design I’ve started to think about use cases.
The first thing that came to mind is that you can use one half of a phone if the battery in the other half is depleted. I’m guessing that this implementation would deplete one battery first, then the other, as two would have to be a part of the package.
You can also detach it if you want to use a small display only, or for whatever reason. It sure sounds odd, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find use cases for something like this. The question remains, though, will this ever become a reality? We’ll have to wait and see. Until then, we have products like the Huawei Mate XT to keep us occupied, the world’s first tri-fold handset.
