Oppo seems to be working on a way to hide all cameras from a future smartphone, even those on the back

Oppo is a company that’s really investing itself into discovering innovative designs for its upcoming smartphones. Recently, the company showcased a triple-folding phone, and now, a patent discovered by LetsGoDigital shows that the company may be working on another innovative approach to smartphones: this time, in the camera department, with a pop-up camera not only for the selfie shooter but for all cameras.

The patent shows the phone will hide entirely its rear cameras, getting rid of the big camera bump smartphones have these days. It describes Oppo using two mirrors that will reflect the light that’s captured in the sensors, which will reportedly be in the phone itself. That means the pop-up mechanism won’t have the camera exposed, but just two mirrors to capture the light. This way, the user can take either a selfie or a normal photo or video, from the same place. Previously, Xiaomi has also applied for a patent using similar tech, but with one mirror and a rotating camera.


Unlike Xiaomi, Oppo’s camera won’t rotate or move, which improves its durability. Additionally, Oppo’s patent suggests that the mirror can be used to also capture photos from the side, meaning the smartphone will be able to take 360-degree shots. It could also be able to take photos simultaneously from the front and the back, which somehow reminds us of Samsung Galaxy S21’s Director’s View, although this one is software-based, while Oppo’s idea is hardware-driven.

LetsGoDigital’s creators have made renders based on the patent to showcase how this might look like:


Keep in mind that, as is the case with all patents, this might not see the light of production. It remains to be seen whether Oppo can practically make this design functional and durable enough to be implemented in a future Oppo smartphone.