Oppo Patents Smartphone with Detachable Rear Camera Module

Dec. 5, 2020

I’d say Oppo and Vivo are two smartphone brands that are working tirelessly to better their camera technology. We have already seen Oppo launch phones with10x hybrid zoomand anunder-display selfiecamera. And now, a recent patent filing reveals that the Chinese giant is working on something a lot more crazy.

As seen in the image above, the latest Oppo patent application spotted at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) shows off asmartphone with a detachable rear camera module. This futuristic Oppo phone will have a cavity for a camera module in the back panel. It will enable you to take out the camera module and use it for selfies, video calls, and group photos. You can place the module anywhere and use the phone to capture photos – but there’s a catch. I will talk about it down below.

The detachable camera module has a rectangular pill shape. It featurestwo sensors and an LED flashin the patent filing. While the concept is crazy enough, you would more surprised to learn that the cameramodule has a hidden USB Type-C port. You will have to connect the module to the Type-C port while clicking selfies.

The Type-C port seems to be accessible at two angles – 90-degrees and 180-degrees. This means you will have more versatility (as we have already seen with the rotating camera on theZenFone 7) while capturing videos or group photos.

How about more features? Well, the patent reveals that the rear camera module will have a flexible circuit board. This means Oppo will be able to mount Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, and NFC modules to make it accessible remotely – without the Type-C port. Also, the modulecan also house a lithium-ion batterythat can be charged via the phone itself. This is the catch we talk about at the start. Oppo will need to bake wireless tech and a battery into the camera module to make this a reality.

If the camera module technology turns into reality within the next couple of years, we can expect Oppo to build a variety of modules. One module could offer 108MP photos while the other could serve100x zoom photoswith ease. You will soon be able to carry multiple modules and hot-swap them as per your need. Sounds cool, right? However, we suggest you take the patent with a grain of salt as it’s possible that it may never see the light of day.