While the fanbase for foldable phones is growing at a rapid pace, the ones looking for a clamshell-type foldable phone could easily outnumber the rest. This is probably why we’ve seen companies like Samsung, Motorola and very recently Huawei attempt a compact foldable phone.
Now even Xiaomi seems to follow suit. The leading Chinese smartphone maker has just filed a patent for a new foldable phone – unlike the one that we reported years back.
Spotted by MySmartPrice, the patent documents do not have the name or specifications of this upcoming smartphone. All it has is the application number 2020301357510 of China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). However, the patent images reveal the design and key elements of the phone.
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Xiaomi foldable flip phone
Going by the attached images in the patent documents, the Galaxy Flip 3 competitor by Xiaomi may come with a dual-camera setup and a tiny secondary display housed in a rectangular camera island. The external display seems to be tiny, offering limited usability and one of the primary reasons behind this could be the space constraint in such a compact form factor.
The outer shell seems to be curved to offer a comfortable in-hand grip. While the primary display might house a pill-shaped punch-hole cutout on the top left corner for the selfie camera. The primary display seems to be surrounded by thin bezels on all sides.
Aside, you can notice the sim tray, USB Type C port and bottom-firing speakers can be seen at the bottom of the device. While the top is button-less and port-less, the right side of the phone might have the placement of the usual combo of power and volume rocker.
Xiaomi compact phone is also in the works
While there is absolutely no information about Xiaomi’s Galaxy Z Flip 3 competitor, there are reports that the company is working on a compact flagship phone. Sometime back we reported about the existence of the Xiaomi 12 Mini and thought that it might launch later today, however, the company has decided to only introduce a couple of flagship phones.
A Gizmochina report citing the known tipster Digital Chat Station seems to suggest that Xiaomi is indeed working on a compact flagship phone and it is currently in the testing phase.
To recall, a compact flagship is a device that has all the ingredients of a flagship phone – including a top-of-the-line SoC, display, memory, storage, camera setup and more. Though the only differentiator is the pocketable size of the phone. Case in point iPhone 13 Mini and the elusive Asus 8z.
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