Samsung is considering its next flexible phone Galaxy The Z Fold 3 will feature a pop-up front camera. At least that's what a patent application with the World Intellectual Property Organization, which leaked into the ether a few days ago, suggests.
The sketches accompanying the patent document are quite detailed and show a device that closely resembles the current one Galaxy From the Fold 2, except that the folding panel and the outer display of the phone pictured do not have the Infinity-O notch. Instead, the selfie cameras have moved to a pop-out module that protrudes from one of the halves of the device.
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As the images suggest, Samsung is exploring different uses for the ejector module. Some depict devices Galaxy Z Fold with a pop-up selfie camera that protrudes from the outer display half of the phone. Still others reveal a flexible device that hides the ejector module inside the other half. Additionally, some sketches show that the pop-up camera would replace the main — rear-facing — camera, while others suggest it could supplement it with additional sensors.
As with patents, there is no guarantee that they will eventually materialize into a real product. It's possible that Samsung wants to replace the camera cutouts with a pop-up selfie camera before the under-display camera technology becomes widespread (according to some speculation, this technology was supposed to debut in the Fold 2, but its implementation was allegedly not possible due to technical problems). After all, Samsung already has some experience with this design – it is used by a mid-range smartphone released last year Galaxy A80.
