The National Intellectual Property Administration of China has published a TCL patent showing a strange smartphone with a removable camera setup.
The patent, first discovered by LetsGoDigital, shows what a normal-looking smartphone looks like at first. However, it appears that you can remove the dual camera housing and place it on the side of the phone.
The image included in the patent shows a phone with very thin edges and no front camera for selfies.
The patent describes how two small connectors attach the camera module to the side of the device’s edges, allowing users to take selfies. This probably wouldn’t be great if you’re like me and like taking selfies. Being forced to constantly move the camera can quickly get frustrating, but if you’re someone who doesn’t care about your smartphone’s front shutter, I can see that this is a decent solution.
It is not clear if these cameras can also be used alone when not connected to the smartphone. The patent was published and approved on September 28.
In the past, TCL has shown a ‘Fold’ n Roll ‘smartphone and a folding which could have been the competitor to the Z Flip 3. As always, it is important to note that this is just a patent and that this technology could never make it to a TCL smartphone.
Source: LetsGoDigital