Samsung's New Galaxy Smartphone Design Revealed In Patent

A new patent reveals Samsung's new front camera design that could be used for more than just selfies. This design will likely be featured in next year's flagship Galaxy phones.

Smartphones today feature different display designs. Some smartphones, like the popular Apple iPhone 11 series, have a notch on top to house technologies used for Face ID. The upcoming Google Pixel 4 has a traditional design with bezels on top to house components needed for Face Unlock. Other smartphones don't have bezels, but have popup cameras used to take selfies.

Samsung's latest flagships, on the other hand, make use of a punch hole to house a front-facing camera. The Galaxy S10 lineup has an oblong-shaped punch hole for two front cameras. The Galaxy Note 10, on the other hand, has a small punch hole at the middle that houses just one front-facing camera. A new patent, however, shows that this might change soon.

A patent spotted by Tiger Mobiles (via BGR) shows a Samsung smartphone that has an elongated oblong-shaped punch hole capable of housing three cameras. The three distinct cameras in the punch hole, which is placed on the top left side of the display, might be used for a variety of functions that are unclear at the moment.

The punch hole might be used to house important components used for Samsung's version of the iPhone's Face ID or the Pixel 4's Face Unlock. Face ID uses a lot of components including a standard camera, an infrared camera, an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a flood illuminator, a speaker, a microphone and a dot projector. Samsung will need all the space it can get for its own Face Unlock.

Aside from the new punch hole design, the patent also reveals a possible dual-camera setup at the top left side at the back of the phone. Beneath the dual-lens setup is a small circle that looks like an LED flash. There seems to be no ToF sensor.

The patent illustrations also reveal that the phone might have buttons on the right-hand side, likely for power and volume control. A SIM tray is seen on the left-hand side of the phone. The illustrations do not reveal anything about the top and bottom sides of the device.