Meitu smartphones
The most recent model, the Meitu V7, was introduced two months ago. This mobile phone has a triple front camera and a dual rear camera. For the time being, the company does not have full-screen smartphones in its portfolio with a punch-hole camera or a slider camera.
Last year, several smartphones were released – especially by Chinese manufacturers – with a pop-up or slider camera. Think of manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. A recently published patent indicates that Meitu is also exploring the possibilities for a retractable camera.
Meitu full-screen smartphone with an extendable camera
On 29 January 2019, a new design patent was published in the Global Design Database of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office). The patent has been submitted by Xiamen Meitu Mobile Technology and contains about 12 illustrations of a typical Meitu smartphone with some special features.
We see a Meitu smartphone with a full-screen display. The selfie camera is not processed behind the screen; there is an option for a retractable camera system. Probably it is a manual system where you slide the display down relative to the housing.
As soon as the camera system comes up, you have access to a double selfie camera. Two cameras can also be found on the back.
Xiaomi acquires smartphone manufacturer Meitu
At the end of last year, Xiaomi and Meitu announced that they would enter into a strategic partnership in which Xiaomi would be responsible for designing, and manufacturing sales of Meitu smartphones worldwide. Meitu is best known for her selfie apps; the smartphone division has been loss-making since its foundation in 2013.
So it remains a question of what Xiaomi’s plans are with Meitu. Xiaomi has some experience with retractable cameras. The Chinese manufacturer put the Mi Mix 3 on the market late last year; also a full-screen smartphone with a dual slider camera. It is therefore, quite possible that a Meitu smartphone will be introduced shortly. Incidentally, there seems to be a Xiaomi smartphone with a dual punch-hole camera in the pipeline.
