ZTE could take on rumored Motorola RAZR with foldable device of its own
Back in early January, a report claimed that Motorola’s RAZR would return later this year as a foldable smartphone. There’s yet to be any official word on the matter but a new patent does suggest the premium device could face some pretty direct competition.
After previously patenting a device that could be folded horizontally, Chinese brand ZTE appears to be looking into a new smartphone that supports a vertical fold. This design, however, is slightly different to the one Motorola is allegedly working on.
Starting with the front of the device, the patent describes an all-screen design that boasts almost no bezels. Due to the way the phone has been designed, folding the panel vertically leaves a small portion towards the bottom visible at all times. Presumably, this can be used for viewing important information such as notifications, time, weather, and perhaps also answering calls.
Looking at the rear, the bottom portion includes a dual-camera setup and an LED flash. The top half, on the other hand, also seems to include two cameras. In combination with the area of the display that is always on show, these can presumably be used for selfies whenever the smartphone is folded.
Other aspects of the device include a bottom-firing speaker and a USB Type-C port. Unfortunately, the fan-favorite 3.5mm headphone jack is nowhere to be seen.
Because this is only a patent at the moment, there’s no guarantee ZTE will ever release such a device. But if it does arrive it can only be a good thing. After all, more competition in the market means better overall products in the long run.
After previously patenting a device that could be folded horizontally, Chinese brand ZTE appears to be looking into a new smartphone that supports a vertical fold. This design, however, is slightly different to the one Motorola is allegedly working on.
Looking at the rear, the bottom portion includes a dual-camera setup and an LED flash. The top half, on the other hand, also seems to include two cameras. In combination with the area of the display that is always on show, these can presumably be used for selfies whenever the smartphone is folded.
Because this is only a patent at the moment, there’s no guarantee ZTE will ever release such a device. But if it does arrive it can only be a good thing. After all, more competition in the market means better overall products in the long run.
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