The Chinese smartphone manufacturer VIVO is exceptionally famous in its home country China. With the frequent release of high-profile phone models, it has gained traction from all around the world. Currently, it stands at a fantastic ranking as the 5th largest smartphone manufacturer worldwide. Now, it has raised many tech-enthusiasts eyes again. It recently patented what could be their flagship phone, with a curved design, punch-hole front, and quad-system rear camera.
According to LetsGoDigital, Vivo Mobile Communications filed for a design patent On April 27, 2020, in China. On August 25, 2020, the CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Office) published the patent in the form of a document. It consists of a total of nine sketches of the yet unreleased product.
Features Of The Potential Vivo Flagship Phone
The patented device shows a rounded display, which is becoming increasingly common in the top models by Vivo. It looks like a modern model with narrow screen edges, with a high screen to body ratio. A small hole-punch camera is seen in the top right corner of the phone.
The small camera also features in the V19 Neo. And if features remain unchanged, a smaller aperture does not have to mean less quality image for the new model. For instance, the V19 Neo boasts a 32-megapixel sensor with Super Night mode.
From the front view, the patent document gives a semblance of having no side bezels. From the side view, two buttons can be observed on the right and one physical button on the left. The top and bottom bezels also look quite slim and free of controls and connections. Additionally, no physical fingerprint sensor is in plain sight. This is probably an indication of an in-display fingerprint sensor – similar to most of the Vivo models.
The back of the smartphone is mostly a series of cameras. We can see four possible apertures vertically spaced down the middle-top of the phone. The top camera lens is the largest, followed by three similarly sized lenses. Above the last lens, a little LED flash can be seen. The quad-camera system is something not seen in Vivo’s earlier models.
The top looks plain, without any buttons or opening. The bottom presents a USB connection, a microphone, and a speaker. There is an additional space, which LetsGoDigital assumes could be the SIM compartment.
Similarities with the Earlier Models
The new model has many new features, but there are some similarities to its predecessors as well, mainly to the NEX 3 and 3S. Those are the premium smartphones in the Vivo line with rounded or “waterfall” displays, the circular rear camera module, the pop-up selfie camera.
Going by the design, this phone features a similar rounding off the edges. Moreover, it also gives the appearance of a plain rectangle from the front, with the appearance of having no side-buttons.
Apart from these designs, there does not seem to be much resemblance, though. The small camera is found in earlier models like V19 Neo, but the rear quad-camera system is quite different.
Because of these reasons, it remains unclear which phone model it is. But it would be safe to assume that it is a high-end model. The edge display, as it is in this patent, is one of the distinctive factors of premium Vivo smartphones. The camera system also heavily leans towards the V-series.
If it indeed is the next phone in the NEX lineup, it might be a disappointment for the NEX fans. As apart from ergonomics, it seems to have lost out on many aspects, including the edge-to-edge screen. Vivo has skipped out on the pop-up selfie camera. But it also hasn’t taken a leap into the under-display system which many new models of smartphones are undertaking.
Further Details and Release
As of now, the designs from the document is all the knowledge we have on the model. Unfortunately, details like its internals and specifications are yet to be known.
Overall, the device looks like Vivo is trying to cover multiple features in one model. However, the design also suggests a high probability of being the next flagship phone.
Of what we know, Vivo announced the latest V10 phone from its V-series in April 2020. It has also proclaimed that it will be announcing a successor to the V19 before 2021, the V21. This patent could also be the V21. It is too soon to know for sure. So stay tuned, for we will cover the latest updates here.
