Xiaomi teases screen innovation we’d love to see on the iPhone 11

Xiaomi has drawn back the curtain on a very interesting new screen innovation, dubbed a ‘sneak peek at the future’.

Xiaomi has released a video showing an under-screen selfie camera working in action on a prototype smartphone. The camera seems entirely invisible, covered by the display, until it is activated and then works just like a normal front-facing camera.

This design allows for a screen that truly fills the entire front of the device, and we can’t wait for Apple and Samsung to follow suit and introduce something like this to its flagship phones.

Related: Best Phones

As you can see from Xiaomi’s video demonstration, the under-display selfie camera is the perfect solution to invasive notches (like the Google Pixel 3 XL and iPhone XS) or potentially vulnerable pop-up cameras (like the OnePlus 7 Pro). For the last few years these such workarounds have been seen as compromises rather than a genuinely desirable designs, and we’ve waited patiently for the under-screen solution. And just like London buses, after waiting all this time two have come at once, as Oppo has also announced its own take on the new design:

This news demonstrates without a doubt that a new industry-wide trend is on the horizon, and we can’t wait to get our hands on the first one. But if there are already a couple of Android phones with this feature under development, what about the leaders of the industry; namely Samsung and Apple?

Related: WWDC 2019

The recent Samsung Galaxy S10 flagship had a cut-out selfie camera rather than a notch, and in March 2019, Samsung said it would take them another 1-2 years for the under-display selfie camera to be released on a Samsung phone. While we fully expect Apple to be working on this technology too, we haven’t heard any rumours or leaks from Apple on the subject yet so unfortunately, this feature isn’t likely to be found on the iPhone 11.