We hope this Xiaomi phone with a pop-up camera and seven sensors becomes a thing

Several new Xiaomi camera patents have just surfaced online. Spotted by Shot Bytes, these patents come from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and they reveal three new distinct pop-up camera designs.

The first design features dual front and rear-facing camera setups. The second and third sport dual front-facing cameras too, but they also feature one triple and one whopping penta-camera setup. Other than the number of camera cutouts, there isn’t much else different between these designs.

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Based on these patents, it looks like the pop-up mechanisms would house both the front and rear-facing sensors. This would be quite an achievement, considering how much tech it would need to back in such a small space.

These Xiaomi patents don’t really tell us anything else about these cameras or the devices they would come on. We don’t even know if Xiaomi is just playing around with this idea or if it actually plans to bring these features to market. But, if it does, these could be some seriously interesting devices.

Meanwhile, other manufacturers like OnePlus look to be moving away from the pop-up camera with its upcoming OnePlus 8. Other competitive Android manufacturers like Google and Samsung have also strayed away from pop-up cameras. Along with several other companies, they have opted for notches and hole punch designs. These Xiaomi camera patents mean the Chinese manufacturer could be heading in a different direction than the competition, and that’s not a bad thing given its previous smartphone and wearable copycat track record.