TCL patents a stylish phone with in-display camera

We've seen patents from Chinese brands suggesting that smartphones with in-display selfie cameras are coming this year. Most recently a Huaweipatent showed that the company may be working on a phone similar to its Huawei Mate 30 Pro, with no physical buttons, and an under-display selfie camera.

A new patent that another Chinese giant, TCL, had filed in late December 2019 has been released today. Thanks to LetsGoDigital, we can see that TCL too is in the works of a smartphone that may be its first take on the new trend in smartphone technology.

All screen, no notch

In the patent photos, the front of the phone is shown to feature symmetrical, minimal bezels and rounded corners, no notches or pop-up cameras. A fingerprint sensor, much like the selfie camera, is also likely to be embedded into the screen.

Rounded corners, no buttons

Similarly to the smartphone in the previously-mentioned Huawei patent, this one will have no buttons, and users will have to rely on gestures instead.


The top of the phone shows that there isn't a Power key, neither a headphone jack. On the bottom we have a standard USB Type-C port, a single bottom-firing speaker, and a SIM card tray.

Quad camera with double LED flash

On the back of the phone are either 6 camera modules, or what is more likely, 4 cameras with double LED flash. At the time, it appears TCL was considering arranging the cameras horizontally instead of vertically, with only two of the four being paired in a pill-shaped module.

We're yet to see if TCL is among the first to introduce a consumer smartphone with an in-display camera this year. The company is known for releasing smartphones under the Alcatel and BlackBerry brands, in addition to releasing phones under its own TCL name. Most recently, TCL made its highly affordable TCL 10 Pro and TCL 10L handsets available in the US.