Xiaomi is not the only company that is testing interesting ideas of pop-up cameras for smartphones, as suggested by registered patents. Korean giant Samsung is also trying to discover the perfect design of the smartphone camera, so that the phone’s screen is completely free of notches and perforating cameras, while still allowing the user to take high-quality selfies. The Samsung patent filed in mid-2020 was recently published by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office), showing a Galaxy phone with a main camera module on the back, which can alternatively rise and turn for the user.
Now thanks to LetsGoDigital and With the 3D renderings of the Concept Creator shown below, we can see what a Samsung Galaxy smartphone like this would look like.
The idea here is not very different from what we saw implemented in Asus ZenFone 7 Pro in 2020. We have a main camera module, which when necessary can turn to the user’s side and take selfies too. Thanks to this solution, the front of the phone will not need to feature any notches or cutouts of selfie camera, blocking the screen. But most importantly, your main camera folding like your selfie camera can mean much higher quality selfies! The way Samsung envisioned its solution is with a tall, somewhat cylindrical camera module containing three cameras. These will take the normal photos and videos, but when the user switches to selfie mode, a motorized mechanism will rotate and raise the camera module enough that the upper camera faces the user.
Realistically, we cannot have high hopes that this Samsung patent will lead us to a real phone with a camera like this. It is very common to see major smartphone manufacturers filing patents for ideas and products that were never made. As cool as it may be, a motorized pop-up camera module usually poses the problem of reduced phone durability.
Regardless, it’s always fun and informative to see what ideas the designers behind our favorite phone brands are having and considering.