Doogee's prototype Mix 4 smartphone features a sliding screen that hides the front camera

[Shawn Knight]

Modern smartphones face an interesting design challenge. As bezels are increasingly put on a diet, manufacturers are left to figure out what to do with handsets’ front-facing cameras and ambient light sensors.

Thus far, the only solutions we’ve seen are to maintain a meaty top bezel or to implement a notch (one of the ugliest design decisions ever IMO). That is, until now.

Doogee through an exclusive unboxing with Arun Maini of YouTube channel Mrwhosetheboss has unveiled its solution to the problem. The prototype Doogee Mix 4 features a sliding 5.99-inch display that effectively allows for narrow bezels by hiding the front-facing camera. Unfortunately, the mechanical solution also hides the phone’s ambient light sensor and earpiece speaker. Oops.

Aside from being a bit impractical, the phone presumably wouldn’t be very comfortable to talk on. After all, who wants to have their ear pressed up against a sizable ridge? Then again, most people tuck their handsets away in cases that introduce similar ridges so maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad?

Additionally, it’s worth pointing out that a mechanical sliding screen would serve as a potential weak point that would eventually wear out over time. That may not be an issue for most who swap out phones every other year but for heavy users or those that hold on to smartphones for several years, it would be a concern.

The prototype is also a bit on the thick side at 11mm and interestingly enough, the prototype is shown with a fingerprint icon on the screen, suggesting it could feature an in-screen fingerprint reader.

Maini speculates that the Doogee Mix 4 could arrive by the end of the year although nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74057-doogee-prototype-mix-4-smartphone-features-sliding-screen.html

 

[Puiu]

It's an interesting design, but some of the drawbacks are a bit annoying. For instance, I can probably very easily slide it while inserting it or removing it from my pockets.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Makes me miss the days of slide-out keyboards... This seems more like a gimmick to me, just to have this stupid "bezel-less" modern minimalist design everyone is has a boner for. Not to mention this likely makes the phone a few millimeters thicker than it needs to be because you now have two chassis where you would normally have one.

 

[vincentyu]

You can't have a case with this phone.

 

[Solar Flair]

Now we just need to make it also slide up and show 3 more hardware buttons

 

[Solar Flair]

You can't have a case with this phone.

With this 1.1 cm thickness, people probably don't want to use a case.

 

[tipstir]

I am not impress, either go 100% transparent and be able to double the size from 5, 6 or 7 then revert back to the 5.5 size then otherwise don't call me in the morning..

 

[amghwk]

I don't understand the bezel-less design craze nowadays.

Why compromise functionality over aesthetics?

 

[Abraka]

Finally someone has blocked the front spy camera. Hopefully they'll start producing phones without the front camera altogether.