The pop-up selfie camera is a prominent alternative to the display notch or punch-hole camera. It keeps the upper part of a smartphone screen free of either and deploys a front-facing shooter at need. These modules are usually small square modules that rise from the top edge of a device using motors at need.
However, there are a couple of departures from this shape out there, particularly the wedge-cam found in the first- and second-gen Reno and Reno 10x Zoom. Now, it seems their maker OPPO has patented a new idea along the same lines.
This document had been filed with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) earlier in 2020. It depicts a triple-rear-camera phone with a selfie camera found in a semi-circle peeping over the top bezel of its display. Further diagrams show that the rest of this shape seems to be present in an internal housing that is also attached to the main cameras.
These illustrations also suggest that the front-facing shooter is deployed via a spinning action, controlled through a release mechanism on one side. Therefore, OPPO may launch a phone with this unique type of pop-up in the near future.
This find has also led to speculation that the same device will be a new Reno with this series’ rumored next-gen 15x Hybrid zoom. However, nothing of that sort is certain at this time.