This is how Xiaomi’s future modular phone may look like – Times of India

In the past, we have seen different smartphone brands give a shot to modular designs in smartphones. Now, it appears we may soon see Xiaomi make an attempt in this segment.
The Chinese consumer technology giant has filed for a patent for developing a modular smartphone, claims a report by Lets Go Digital. This comes a week after the company was granted the patent for a dual slider smartphone and a rotating pop-up camera last week, which may aid in the development of the device.
When it comes to the patent for a modular phone, Xiaomi describes the process to include three modules and the functions of these modules may vary.
The first module is essentially the upper part of the handset and houses the motherboard and the camera system, the second part or the middle section is where the battery is processed and the third part houses the USB charging port and the speaker.
“The modules are easily interchangeable and can contain additional functions. Consider, for example, a speaker module or a zoom camera module,” describes the report.
Two of these modules are said to house a screen and a large screen display forms when the two are connected. The report claims that there should be no visible seam in this process.
For the camera, three different modules are shown — one is a square-shaped layout with a triple camera setup, second a vertical camera setup with both quad and triple camera setup. The report also shows two different bottom renders as well.
As per the documents, Xiaomi is developing this modular phone to make it easier to replace just one module can save on repair costs.