Oppo patents LG-like dual-screen phone
Walking in LG’s footsteps
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LGused to put out dual-screen smartphones, like theLG V60 ThinQ, that had a clip-on secondary screen you could use to get extra use out of your phone - althoughLG has confirmed it will no longer make mobile phoneswe could still see this kind of double-display device, as it looks like Oppo could take up the baton.
As spotted byITHome, Oppo has been granted a patent for a smartphone that has a clip-on secondary screen, which is held by a clamp, and the resulting handset can be opened and closed like a book. ITHome compares this to theMicrosoft Surface Duo, but unlike that device (and like LG’s dual-screeners) it sounds like the secondary display can be removed on Oppo’s concept.
Unfortunately, the patent only describes the design of this type of two-screen handset, so we don’t know what Oppo imagines it would do. For LG’s phones, though, the two screens acted independently, so you could do whatever you like: watch a film on Netflix while IMDB’ing the performers, scroll two social media channels at once, or play games while looking up guides for them.
This patent was filed in 2020 and granted in March 2021, so it’s clearly not something Oppo did to capitalize on the LG news, but rather a sign the company has been considering such a dual-screen device for a while.
Patents don’t necessarily guarantee a real version of the tech is being created, just that the idea is being considered, so if anything, the news here is that Oppo is considering alternative phone form factors. We’ve already seen theOppo X 2021 rollable phoneandOppo X Nendo folding device, so this could be another in that vein.
We’ll have to wait and see, and we could be doing that for a while - patents for complicated devices like this usually get filed years before the devices come to light, so maybe Oppo’s dual-screen phone will get shown off in 2022 or even later.
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Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.
He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.
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