Xiaomi's new phone has a pop-up camera like the Oppo Find X

Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 and Huawei sub-brand Honor are jumping on the no-notch bandwagon

Smartphones

Xinmei Shen

Published: 9:45pm, 31 Aug, 2018

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This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Xiaomi has long been accused of being, shall we say, "inspired" by Apple. Now its upcoming phone looks like it's taking a cue from a different rival -- but Xiaomi says it's just a coincidence.

The company's co-founder and president Lin Bin posted an image of the Mi MIX 3 on Weibo, revealing that the camera is mounted on a panel that automatically pops out of the phone, like the Oppo Find X.

And Lin addressed the similarity head-on. “Sorry, we happen to look the same,” said the post.

Xiaomi's reveal came after Honor, Huawei’s budget-friendly sub-brand, teased its new Honor Magic 2 at IFA in Berlin. Expected out in October, it also has a pop-up camera module, which Honor calls the "Magic Slide".

Honor says the Magic 2 will have a nearly 100% screen-to-body ratio... which could be true, if you define "nearly 100%" as "not all that close to 100%" (Picture: Honor)

It's part of a growing trend among Chinese smartphone makers, as they search for a way to make phones with ultra-thin bezels without resorting to the notch -- the cut-out part of the screen seen on the iPhone X.

Vivo were the first to show that there was another way with their Apex concept phone, which put the selfie camera in a small module that automatically slides out of the top of the phone when needed.

Oppo went one further with the Find X, putting the entire camera module -- front and back -- into a module that spanned the width of the phone, again emerging smoothly when needed.

Given that we've seen scores of handsets jump on the notch bandwagon over the last year, it's a little refreshing to see phone makers try something different.

(Even if by "try something different" we mean "copy a slightly less popular trend".)

Pop-up camera phone is a beautiful hassle: Oppo Find X review

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