Xiaomi patents a new smartphone design with 7 pop-up cameras

• The patent design reveals up to five rear cameras and two front cameras.
• All the seven camera sensors are housed in the same pop-up module.
• All the cameras would be hidden when not in use.

Xiaomi patented a new smartphone design with up to seven pop-up cameras. As per the patent filing, Xiaomi designed the camera module to house both front as well as rear cameras.

Although we have seen several smartphones with pop-up cameras, this design is the first one where front and rear cameras are housed in the same pop-up module.

The Asus Zenfone 6 that was launched last year had two cameras in a flip-up module, allowing you to use the same two cameras for regular photos as well as selfies. As per a report, Xiaomi could be gearing up to launch a device with up to 7 pop-up cameras.

Xiaomi's patent design suggests that there could be up to seven camera sensors in total. Out of these seven sensors, five would be used as rear cameras and two as front cameras. It also suggests that all the seven cameras will be housed in the same pop-up camera module.

All cameras would be hidden when not in use

Essentially, this would hide all the cameras when they are not in use. This might seem like a handy feature both in terms of design as well as privacy.

The Xiaomi patent also shows that the company is considering a few variations of the camera design, starting with four cameras. While the front will always have two cameras, there could be two, three, four and five rear cameras.

Xiaomi is experimenting with different camera module designs

Earlier last year, Xiaomi patented a design with five pop-up cameras. In that case, the five cameras would work as both front as well as rear cameras. That would require the camera module to rotate as well, making it more prone to breakdown when compared to a regular pop-up module.

See also:

Xiaomi's next phone might have 5 pop-up cameras

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