Huawei Mate 30 could avoid a notch or pop-up camera with this baffling design

Huawei is hard at work on the next entry in its hugely-successful Mate series, dubbed Huawei Mate 30. Like last year, we're expecting to see two different variations of the Mate 30 series – a standard, and a Mate 30 Pro. 

Ahead of the launch, which will likely be in the October or November (provided Huawei sticks with the same release window it has used in previous years), the Chinese manufacturer has patented a new design that could help it avoid a notched screen, a camera cut-out, or a pop-up selfie camera.

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If these design quirks sound at all familiar, that's because we've seen them all on the likes of the iPhone XS Max (curved notch for Face ID system and selfie camera that can cut into video when viewed fullscreen in landscape), Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (oblong cut-out in the top right-hand corner of the screen for the selfie camera), and the OnePlus 7 Pro (pop-up camera that emerges from the chassis when needed).

Huawei has toyed with a curvaceous notch at the top of its displays in past with the likes of the Mate 20 Pro, as well as the embedded the selfie camera via its sub-brand Honor, with the likes of the Honor View 20, and the pop-up camera design with its Huawei P Smart Z.

However the latest patent, spotted by the eagle-eyed folks at LetsGoDigital, suggests it might try something completely different this time around.

The design patent, filed with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), was published on May 7, 2019 and reveals a handset with an all-screen design. However, there is a curved bezel that houses the proximity and ambient light sensors, speaker grill and front-facing camera above the screen. Almost like a reverse notch, rather than curving and cutting into the screen it sits above it.

The official documentation includes 14 images, including 7 product renders. It's a very different look to anything else in the Huawei portfolio right now.

It's worth keeping in mind that multi-national companies like Huawei often patent new designs and technologies for future products that never make it outside of the R&D laboratory. So, don't get too excited about the design as it might not make the cut for the Huawei Mate 30, or any other upcoming Huawei smartphones.

As the Mate 30 release date looms on the horizon, we've seen an increasing number of concepts and rumours about the forthcoming flagship. Unfortunately, we've yet to see someone mock-up this very unique patented design. However, earlier concepts show a handset that looks much closer to its predecessor.

Lead Image Credit: Concept Creator

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