OPPO granted a patent for a different sliding phone mechanism

Last year the Find series of smartphones by OPPO made a triumphant return with the Find X. The design was revolutionary without a camera or fingerprint visible at most times. The sliding mechanism that exposed the camera, both front and rear, was a different solution to the notch and resulted in a 87% screen to body ratio.

This year rumours are suggesting that the next iteration in the Find series will be the Find Z but the design has been kept secret. You would expect OPPO to once again have some sort of novel notch solution in the Find series but it has been unclear just what it would be. A patent recently granted to OPPO may reveal the 2019 solution.

Over at the European Union Intellectual Property Office OPPO have been granted a patent for a sliding mechanism on a smartphone. The patent shows a similar sliding mechanism to the Find X except that this time the rear camera are not hidden in the sliding section. There is no fingerprint on the rear of the device suggesting an in-display fingerprint sensor or face unlock only – it would not surprise us if they used a half or full display fingerprint sensor which they showed off earlier this year.

The front facing camera seems to be a dual camera although the two circles may represent other sensors. It certainly would not surprise us given the success Samsung and Google have had with their dual front-facing cameras.

The rear camera, which seems to be a dual rear camera in this patent sits on the sliding section of the rear of the device. You would think that OPPO would include their new 10 x lossless optical zoom periscope camera in their ultimate flagship this year so it will be interesting to see how they include that if this is indeed this year’s Find series phone.

Last year the Find X was announced by OPPO in Paris on the 19th June. Given that relative date this year is only 10 weeks away and companies tend to stick to similar time frames we expect to see more leaks for this year’s Find series phone from OPPO in the next couple of months.

Of course we will have to wait and see what the phone brings in the way of software before a lot of Australians accept it but given that OPPO have been improving their software every year you can be sure that many Aussies will once again be considering an OPPO Find series phone this year.

Will you?