Ever since cell phone companies adopted full-screen designs, front cameras have always been an issue. While most of the cell phone industry seems to have settled on the hole-in-the-wall design, there is still life left in the pop-up camera option.

If this patent discovered by LetsGoDigital is certain, the pop-up camera may return in Samsung's Galaxy A series in 2021. It would also stand out in terms of rear-facing cameras. And it rotates.

The mid-range Galaxy A series is not the place to expect such experimental new features. However, Samsung's first pop-up camera debuted on the Galaxy A80 in 2019, so there is precedent for this kind of thing.

However, this patent does not describe a typical pop-up camera. Remember the part about rotating? That's because this is actually a rear camera on a cell phone, with a mechanism that pops up and flips round.

Flipping cameras are nothing new. In fact, the aforementioned Galaxy A80 could rotate its camera to look in either direction. However, the patent's mechanism is quite ingenious: the rear camera module is mounted on a "pillar" that physically moves when switching camera modes.

This is not only a very clean way to omit a dedicated front camera lens. After all, previous reversing cameras like the Asus Zenfone 7 had camera systems that appeared much larger and bulkier. Additionally, they often seem over-engineered.

Of course, just because a patent exists does not mean it will see the light of day. Sometimes patents are filed because they are possible, and sometimes these features end up not being feasible in a mass-produced cell phone. We have no idea what will happen.

That said, I do hope this does happen. Not only is it a clever idea, but the design is worth a look. It's clean, interesting, and helps remove the disconnect between the front and rear cameras.

The cell phone industry seems hell-bent on making under-display cameras a reality, and the ZTE Axon 20 5G is one of the first to do so. While interesting, there are several problems with this type of design. For example, you don't immediately know where the camera is hidden. With a system like Samsung's, the screen becomes all screen, freeing it up in a clean and interesting way.