Xiaomi has been known to apply for a number of patents often. And now, the company was recently granted a new patent that offers us a look at what one of its future smartphones might look like.

The Chinese tech giant had one of its patents be granted in China, which highlights a unique and innovate handset that has a flexible display that can be detached from the body. As per the patent’s summary, the body of the smartphone and the foldable screen panel can be separated from one another. Furthermore, the flexible display wraps around and covers the body when it is attached to the main body.

In other words, the display is unfolded fully when it is detached from the body of the smartphone. Notably, the display is still usable after being removed from the body through wireless data transmission between the flexible screen and the main body. This also implies that the screen itself will be capable of basic computing and houses a battery separate from the main housing as well.

As of right now, finer details regarding the device itself is still unknown. This is still just a patent so we have no way of confirming whether the brand is actually working on such a product or is simply covering all bases. Xiaomi is known to patenting unique handset designs. But, it does offer us a look what the future of smartphones.

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Foldables are said to be the future of smartphones. As of now, only four companies, namely Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, and Royole sell this type of phones. But others are also expected to release their devices very soon. Hence, almost all the major OEMs have been patenting tech related to foldables for the past few years. That said, one such patent by Xiaomi detailing a solution to reduce crease has emerged now.

Foldables come in two different types right now. The first design folds out to be a tablet, whereas the second design resembles clamshell phones from the past. But both these designs have one thing in common and that is creases.

Creases can be found in all the foldable smartphones that are available in the market. Although they don’t bother you if you don’t look for them, they are still a flaw. Therefore, we have seen multiple patents over the past few months from different companies to mitigate them.

Xiaomi’s new patent is also a solution to this problem. The company filed this patent with the CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration) in July 2019. However, it got approved and published only on February 2, 2021. This patent is titled “Support Structure of Flexible Screen, Flexible Screen Structure and Terminal Equipment” (translated).

According to the documentation, this design includes two supporting structure for the flexible display panel. The second structure, which is close to the screen is deformable. Hence, when the device is closed, the display has a low chance of getting affected by a larger crease in the long run. Will this design work? We can only know when Xiaomi uses it in a commercial foldable smartphone.

So far, we are only aware that Xiaomi is working on a foldable smartphone codenamed ‘Cetus’. This handset is said to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, 108MP camera, and MIUI 12 based on Android 11. This device could be the one that was leaked in lived images last month.

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(Via)

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Earlier in December, Ross Young, the founder as well as the lead analyst at DSCC (Display Supply Chain Consultants) revealed that there will be four foldable smartphones from Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo combined in 2021. Then, on Christmas Eve, he tweeted that Xiaomi itself may release three different types of foldables this year. Now, after New Year, four Xiaomi patents have emerged exposing seven different foldable smartphone designs.

These four Xiaomi patents were unearthed by none other than LetsGoDigital. They were published on January 1, 2021, and contain a total of 7 foldable smartphone designs. Out of the total count, 3 models feature clamshell form factor, whereas the remaining 4 sport tablet form factor. Let us take a look at them one by one.

Xiaomi Clamshell Foldable Smartphone Design Patents

As mentioned above, Xiaomi patented three new clamshell foldable smartphones. The first two models have a full-screen display without any notch or punch-hole and a narrow horizontal cover display at the top portion of the phone on the back.

Whereas, the bottom portion of the rear includes the camera setup. The first model has a single large camera paired with an LED flash. On the other hand, the second design includes a vertically aligned quad-camera setup accompanied by an LED flash, an unknown sensor (could be a laser for auto-focus), and what appears to be the secondary microphone hole.

Lastly, the power, as well as volume keys, reside on the right side and the USB Type-C port sits at the bottom.

Talking about the third and the last clamshell design, this one looks like an upside-down Motorola razr 5G. This model has a thick forehead nesting a dual-camera setup for selfies and video calls. Hence, the bottom part is bezel-less and it may interfere while operating the phone.

On the plus side, this one features a much larger cover display, even bigger than the one found on Motorola razr 5G. Further, there’s a triple camera setup on the back, and the power key, volume rocker, as well as SIM card slot are present on the right side.

EDITOR’S PICK: Xiaomi patents a rollable smartphone design with a secondary display

Xiaomi Large Screen Foldable Smartphone Design Patents

Apart from three clamshell foldable phone designs, Xiaomi has also patented four large screen foldable smartphones that unfold into a tablet. All of them look like Galaxy Z Fold2 with some minor differences between them.

Two of them feature Mi MIX Alpha’s signature design element (surround display). Their folding screen runs along the side to the outside to become the cover display. In simpler words, these two designs feature a single flexible OLED panel that acts as both the main inside screen and the outside cover screen without any notch or punch hole.

1 of 2

The only dissimilarity between them is the camera setup. One of them sports a vertically aligned quad-camera setup, whereas the other features a single large AI Super Camera. Further, there’s a single button on the right side, which could be either for turning on the screen or for unlocking the device to unfold it (like HUAWEI Mate Xs).

Finally, the last two designs do not feature a fancy surround display. Instead, the inside main display and the outside vertically place narrow cover screen are two different panels. Just like the above-listed five designs, they also do not sport any notch or punch-hole.

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Although both have a quad-camera setup, the design and size of the camera sensors are different. But the power and volume keys are located on the right side of both of them.

Having said that, we cannot tell for sure if these foldable smartphone designs will be implemented by Xiaomi. As of now, only one thing is sure that the Chinese tech giant is working on a foldable smartphone codenamed ‘cetus’ with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, a 108MP camera, and MIUI based on Android 11.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi patents two more surround display smartphone designs

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Samsung is ahead of any other company in terms of foldables and it continues to patent new designs and utilities. Similarly, companies that haven’t released any foldable device yet are also patenting for a while now. One of those firms is Xiaomi and its software department has filed another design patent for a foldable smartphone.

This new foldable smartphone design patent was filed by Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software with the CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration) in April. It got approved and published on October 23. As usual, it was spotted by none other than LetsGoDigital.

The documentation for the new Xiaomi patent describes an inward folding foldable smartphone with a slider cover display. In other words, this design is a fusion of Galaxy Z Fold2 and Mi Mix 3.

EDITOR’S PICK: OPPO files a utility patent for clamshell foldable smartphone hinge

First of all, the design looks identical to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series. However, the inward folding display does not have any notch or punch hole. Even the outer cover screen lacks them because the front-facing dual-camera and earpiece are hidden below the slider panel.

Further, the back of the device includes a quad-camera setup, power key and volume rockers on the right side, and a microphone as well as a SIM card slot on the top. Since none of the diagrams show the bottom of the phone, we are not sure what else that holds.

Having said that, we don’t think Xiaomi will ever launch this kind of foldable smartphone. Because foldables are already costly and adding a slider display will further increase the cost as well as weight.

UP NEXT: Samsung patents three foldable smartphone designs with cutout for inner cameras

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