After Vivo even won an award for the design of its concept smartphone with a detachable front camera, Oppo is now proposing a new smartphone with a similar idea. Instead of detaching the retractable front camera, Oppo wants to give users the ability to detach the main camera from the back, which may open up various other loopholes for future innovation.
Of course, a modular phone has been proposed in the past by devices like Project ARA from Google, but it was considered a failure even before the official launch and completely canceled.
Oppo could create a detachable camera phone, which can be upgraded later
But Oppo’s proposal suggests that a removable camera could also be used as a stand-alone device. It would integrate a USB Type-C jack, NFC, an internal battery, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to be able to communicate with the phone even when it is detached. Thus, the phone’s camera could become an ultra-portable camera, which you can take out when it is not comfortable to shoot with your phone.
The camera from the patented Oppo, published by 91mobiles, includes two photo sensors with two lenses, probably with different focal lengths, as well as an LED flash for photos and shooting in low light. Interestingly, the design shown in the patent photos, the camera can also be turned to be used as a front camera, in a similar way to the one used by ASUS on the last two ZenFone models.
An advantage of this design does not seem to be the fact that you can use the camera without a phone and that you can return it for self-portraits, but the fact that it opens the possibility to upgrade only the camera. Given how powerful today’s top phones are, it’s hard to believe they’ll need to be replaced for performance reasons too soon. However, cameras are constantly evolving, and the ability to update only the camera on a mobile device would be an advantage for customers.
Robert J. Smith is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including JoyStiq and Android Authority. In regards to academics, Robert earned a degree in business from Fordham University. Robert has passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.
