The iPhone 12 and Galaxy Note 20 will be two of the most exciting phones to be released in the second half of this year, and both are expected to leave some notch on the front of the display to make room for a selfie camera.

However, Xiaomi's latest patent filing suggests that it will release a device with features that neither Apple nor Samsung can compete with.

The patent was discovered by LetsGoDigital, who brought the illustration to life in the rendering found here. It shows how a smartphone like Xiaomi's new Mi 10 would look and function with the front camera integrated under the display, eliminating the need for any sort of notch.

Under normal circumstances, this smartphone appears to have no front camera at all. However, when you open the camera app or any other app that requires a front camera, part of the screen turns off, allowing the camera below to take pictures through the transparent pixels.

We have already seen Xiaomi (and fellow Chinese smartphone maker Oppo) show this technology in action. That was last June, and while Xiaomi's notchless concept posted on Twitter at the time showed the entire top of the screen switched off, this patent shows only a small waterdrop-shaped notch containing the camera.

There is one major problem with placing the camera below the screen. The display between the outside world and the camera absorbs some of the light that would normally enter the camera sensor, so images taken with these phones can appear very dark. There are ways around this, such as adjusting the size of the sensor, increasing its sensitivity, or correcting it with software post-processing. However, it will be interesting to see if Xiaomi can deliver great quality photos with this design.

The iPhone 12 and Galaxy Note 20 will be available later this year with notch and punch hole selfie cameras, respectively. Barring any coronavirus-related disruptions that could mess up their plans, Samsung will launch the Note 20 around August and Apple will launch the iPhone 12 in September, but the iPhone 12 Pro Max may follow after that. Xiaomi already announced its Mi 10 flagship model in March, which also features a punch-hole display.

Xiaomi has a history of releasing improved "T" versions of its phones between major upgrades each year, so perhaps the Mi 10T or Mi 10T Pro handset to be released later this year could be the first commercial phone with an under-display camera If not, Oppo's "under-display camera" version may be the first commercial phone. Otherwise, we may have to wait until next year for Oppo's next handset or Samsung's Galaxy S30, which is said to be the first notchless phone from the Korean company.