The Oppo Find X kills the smartphone notch with a motorized pop-up camera
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Super slim bezels. Hell yeah. Wouldn't have read the article if not for that sub heading / teaser.
Good thing it wasn't something irrelevant instead, like camera picture quality or some such nonsense ... ;-)
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Good thing it wasn't something irrelevant instead, like camera picture quality or some such nonsense ... ;-)
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I must be old, because that's the last damn thing I want staring at me all the time.
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Any part of mobile device that move / mechanic around like that - usual end up bed after weeks - months of real life use.
More than happy to be proved wrong
More than happy to be proved wrong
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This seems like it would be a good solution if it also had a fingerprint reader. I'd be a bit concerned having this open every time I want to use my phone but if it only opens for photos that would probably greatly increase the longevity.
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I think a lot of the worries about motors are misplaced. Things like solenoids + springs can withstand millions of actuations and never have an issue. Something that slides would lend itself to a solenoid + spring return mechanism and not require a gear or a rack or anything.
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That's my first thought as well. I wonder what maintenance you can do on the moving parts and how easy/difficult it is to repair.
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FWIW my motorized trashcan is 3 years old with no issues.... i would think this could make it
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Yeah. I think it's certainly possible to do it right. Thousands of high quality products likely use a motor to some degree; the worry is probably associated with the assumption (or perhaps past experience with?) of a cheap motor being used. I'm just as sure that it's possible to cheap out on this as I'm sure that it could be done right. With a $1000+ device, you have to hope they picked their parts well.
Further thoughts on my above comment - in criticism of a motor, and to make a counterpoint to your trash can, a phone is likely to receive many more "unexpected impacts" than a trash can, and those could certainly mess up a motor. In defense of it, though, it really is a solved problem and it's definitely possible to build a durable solution. Most smartphones only last a couple years anyways.
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wait a power slide out? that means with a slim bezeal you can not have any kind of cover for that phone. as 2 corners are now off limits.
I like the slim phones they keep the phone small when you put a protective cover on it. but you still need that cover to protect from drops, random flights, etc.
edit: random flights is the phone laying on the seat and you slam on the brakes.
I like the slim phones they keep the phone small when you put a protective cover on it. but you still need that cover to protect from drops, random flights, etc.
edit: random flights is the phone laying on the seat and you slam on the brakes.
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Looking at that UI skin - is this phone really going to be launched in North America? Looks like lawsuit fodder.
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It looks like this thing actuates whenever the phone is unlocked. What's the point of zero bezels on the phone if, when in use, it pops up a 1/2 inch bezel at the top of the phone? This is crazy... The pop-up selfie cam + in screen fingerprint reader makes infinitely more sense, if you want to avoid the notch...
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youve clearly never met my dog and his ongoing feud with this trash can. i believe this trash can has had more wear and tear via impacts then anything my phone has ever experienced.
as far as impacts go, breaking the motorized slide would be no different then breaking the glass screen, and as far as longevity goes, none of the companies or consumers seem to mind the idiocy that is glass backed phones
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An interesting alternative to a camera notch. I wish they'd left a fingerprint reader as an option. If it's on the back like on the Pixel phones you can unlock as you're taking it out of a pocket, which face unlock obviously can't do.
If I were to choose between the design of this and the Vivo Nex I'd probably choose the latter, because I never use the selfie camera at all. Since this phone's motor moves whenever using either camera or unlocking the phone, it might be likely wear out faster or be subject to damage. It also precludes more case designs because the entire top edge has to remain exposed to work, instead of just a small portion on the Nex.
If I were to choose between the design of this and the Vivo Nex I'd probably choose the latter, because I never use the selfie camera at all. Since this phone's motor moves whenever using either camera or unlocking the phone, it might be likely wear out faster or be subject to damage. It also precludes more case designs because the entire top edge has to remain exposed to work, instead of just a small portion on the Nex.
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The question I have is once we're delivered a phone face which is 100% screen, what will Ron write articles about?
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It looks like there would be no way to have a protective cover and the whole thing front and back is made of glass right?
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Hmm, if would be just for the normal cameras with a fingerprint scanner on the back I would call it a good idea.
But having the top pop out every time you unlock the phone? Adding even half a second to the face unlock time (which can do its job only after the top slides out) is quite a lot, also this will draw quite some power if you do that 40 times a day. Also it won't work with cases at all.
I don't know, maybe it's a cool concept. But I don't think I could stand it if the top pops out and in again within a second every time I want to use my smartphone.
But having the top pop out every time you unlock the phone? Adding even half a second to the face unlock time (which can do its job only after the top slides out) is quite a lot, also this will draw quite some power if you do that 40 times a day. Also it won't work with cases at all.
I don't know, maybe it's a cool concept. But I don't think I could stand it if the top pops out and in again within a second every time I want to use my smartphone.
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He'll probably switch to complaining that the entire phone is made of glass, with no metal in sight.
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There’s an issue here if “turning on the phone will make the top open” in order to unlock. A big part of the iPhone X implementation is that the phone simply feels unlocked all the time because the authentication is automatic. The purpose is defeated a bit if you have to push an unlock button to activate the authentication.
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My Opportunity Find 7 held up for 3 years. It started getting slow, but I'm sure a factory reset would have helped. It was a durable, plastic phone that withstood a lack of case. I would think they've kept that quality.
Also, 100% love the name of their face identification, O-Face. Just absolutely, perfectly hilarious.
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Has nobody else got a dirty mind?
As soon as I read O-Face, I thought "I don't want anybody seeing that!"
As soon as I read O-Face, I thought "I don't want anybody seeing that!"
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The use case space for mobile phones is enormous and incredibly harsh at every extreme: dust, water, high temperatures, freezing, falls, etc... Cycling the motor 300,000 times in a test lab is great if the phone is lab equipment. I don't doubt the engineers have done their due analysis and testing, but I also don't doubt the use of this feature is more limited in scope and time than a phone without it. Almost every failure I've had on a phone (and most consumer electronics) is with mechanical things, things that move or connect. Pretty phone, though.
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Yep, cases and what about water resistance? That gap seems like a huge issue, especially in the rain.
Though I have to say, this would make a good basis for a Project Ara phone. The cameras are already separate, now make them swappable.
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We just need to rebrand bezels so these companies can start marketing them again. GripZone(tm) with Integrated BiometriX, for the ultimate in cutting edge design!
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They'll sell tape-on bezels, under the auspices of "Are you tired of accidentally tapping part of your screen and getting unwanted actions?"
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Because once it’s authenticated you the camera assembly slides back down.
You still get your super thin bezels other than for the 0.5 s it came up to authenticate you.
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They actually just recently announced they are shuttering their blu-ray player business, with 2 years of warranty and firmware update service starting roughly now. And this phone is essentially the cause. Their players were relatively expensive ($550 for the lower model) although with quality and performance to justify that price, but still not as profitable as electronics like this phone. So the parent company chose to reprioritize their production capability to phones where the real money is.
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It's more about having a moving part that could get dirt in the mechanism, plus you'll inevitably have clumsy idiots drop these things with the camera out.
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This effectively can't be put in a case. That's bad since it's made of fragile materials.
I also suspect the camera quality won't be very good because the space available for the module is even less than in typical phones.
So, like the notch, a "solution" with a bunch of drawbacks to fix a "problem" that doesn't exist.
I also suspect the camera quality won't be very good because the space available for the module is even less than in typical phones.
So, like the notch, a "solution" with a bunch of drawbacks to fix a "problem" that doesn't exist.
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Here's a though for phone makers.
Your running out of ideas of how to make your phone stand out?
Make it EXTRA THICC
Your running out of ideas of how to make your phone stand out?
Make it EXTRA THICC
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Not so much cutting edge as tapered edge. I'd say swap out the ultimate design bit for a comment about the visionary aesthetics and ergonomics.
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Making a phone stand out is easy. Making it stand out in a way that more people buy it is not that easy. People don't seem to like large, thick phones, at least not enough people.
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