The foldable smartphones have become a new emerging technology. The company like Samsung, Motorola, ZTE, Royole Flexpai, and Huawei have even launched their respective first and second-generation foldable smartphones. Most of the OEMs have even started working on their second or third iteration of foldable smartphones. A new patent from CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration) has surfaced revealing the Vertical Foldable smartphone design by ZTE.
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ZTE filed the patent last year in June, and recently received the approval from the National Intellectual Property Office in China.
As disclosed in the pictures above, the new smartphone folds vertically like the old feature phones. The display remains on the outside even after folding it vertically. There’s a camera module on the rear side of the smartphone. The power button is placed on the right side, whereas the volume rockers or a SIM-Slot reside on the left side of the smartphone. A charging USB-Type C port is placed on the top side of the smartphone.
On the front, there’s a speaker grill and a display with minimal bezels.
The design appears to be practical, but we are curious to know about the SIM-Slot of Volume Rockers. Either one of them is not present on the smartphone.
However, it could be a mid-range foldable smartphone due to the presence of only a dual-rear camera module. It would fetch relatively a low price tag.
Many other manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are working on the new foldable smartphones. Surprisingly, Microsoft is also developing a foldable smartphone.
Related: Xiaomi Foldable Smartphone patent shows a clamshell design
(source)