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Xiaomi's quad-curved phone patent is a nightmare for those with butter fingers
- A new Xiaomi patent imagines a phone with a four-sided curved display.
- The phone would also lack ports, buttons, and a selfie camera cut-out.
Two-sided curved screens are pretty annoying, but they’re seemingly a standard design element on flagship phones. But Xiaomi seems intent on pushing this even further. Per a new patent, the firm could be working on a new four-sided curved screen phone.
The patent, spotted by LetsGoDigital, envisions a Xiaomi smartphone with a four-sided curved display. In essence, the phone’s display would wrap around all four front edges and corners of the device. While the back of the phone won’t feature any display elements, most of the device’s side panels would consist of a screen strip. It’s believed that these display edges will be used as information tickers.
The clean display surface and lack of any pop-up camera details suggest Xiaomi will use an under-display selfie camera. At the rear, imaging is handled by a large primary sensor. A secondary design element sits below it, but it’s unclear if this is a companion camera or another component entirely.
No ports, no buttons
Finally, it’s interesting to note that this phone has no buttons or ports. Xiaomi would probably need to implement a few tech tricks to get around this. For starters, induction speakers might feature, while the side display may house pressure-sensitive digital buttons. Wireless charging would be the primary means of topping up the device’s battery. Finally, eSIM technology would probably feature, too.
Would you buy a Xiaomi smartphone with a four-sided curved screen?
Although this patent was published on July 6, it’s no indication that Xiaomi will launch such a device. The company has experimented with wrap-around displays on the Mi Mix Alpha, but this new patent design stretches the screen in all-new directions. Additionally, portless phones aren’t new, but no company has dropped a consumer-ready example just yet.
It’s also debatable how popular this design would be. How will the curved display affect user-friendliness? We imagine negatively. If you’re particularly clumsy, this is probably the worst possible investment, too.
But what do you think of Xiaomi’s latest patent design? Is it a terrible idea that should never be made, or would you buy one instantly? Let us know by voting in the poll above.