Throw air of novelty from the parts of the headquarters of Oppo. Just in the period in which the first Oppo Find N folding was presented together with a series of innovations at Inno Day 2021 such as Oppo Air Glass and MariSilicon X, it seems that the WIPO (the global patent office) has wisely calibrated the times to publish a patent for an innovative smartphone, not in absolute terms – it should be said – but about what the Chinese manufacturer has brought to the market in recent years.
Oppo has never made a product with such extreme solutions. From the images included in the patent and disseminated by LetsGoDigital for example the curves at the edges of the display are so extreme that they end up “hugging” the frame, however thoughtfully: from the different perspectives it is possible to see how the company has tapered the frame where possible, while in the areas most exposed to shocks, like the short sides and especially the corners, a more conservative approach was taken.
And the is the display, in the Oppo patent, to be the master. Indeed, “the” displays. There is a second one next to the rear camera group, which seems to protrude a lot from the surface as the most recent smartphones have accustomed us to. In Oppo’s interpretation, the second screen has larger dimensions than what for example Xiaomi has placed on the rear of Mi 11 Ultra, which – judging from the images – gives it an at least acceptable usability.
Moreover, the second screen would nullify, or almost nullify, part of the technological efforts to integrate the front camera below the display that should be done when the smartphone goes into production. He certainly could not have deserted the appointment on a product that proposes itself as futuristic, and, even if only to exploit them more than 200 patents filed in a few years, the patent contemplates it.
You would probably count on the fingers of one hand the circumstances in which you would end up preferring the selfie camera to the more refined rear cameras in a product with a second display, but there is no doubt that one of these is the moment in which you want to make a video call. So innovation and freedom of choice are welcome, but the question that many will ask at this point is: when will Oppo’s patent become a reality?
It is a question that for now has no answer. According to colleagues from LetsGoDigital, the patent filed in September 2020 and published only now depicts Oppo Find X4 Pro, and the scenario cannot be excluded since the top of the Chinese range is expected on the market in the first part of 2022.
The hypothesis is consistent with the typical development times of a smartphone and to tell the truth, even the lines are reminiscent of the current Find X3 Pro, but since not all the patents come to fruition and the rumors about the Find X4 range are scarce, unbalancing in one or the other direction is risky. We will probably know more in the coming weeks.
