When it comes to smartphones, show-stopping 5G devices with folding screens have captured most of the headlines this year. But they may not be as consequential as Vivo’s more subtle APEX 2019 Concept Smartphone, which offers some clues as to the future of smartphone design.
The concept from Chinese firm Vivo is devoid of buttons, seams, openings or bezels of any kind. It uses something called Touch Sense, a technology that uses both capacitive touch and pressure sensing to determine if a user is tapping the side of the phone or not. This means that ‘buttons’, to the extent that this phone has them, are both everywhere and nowhere.
When it comes to charging, a magnetic power connector on the back allows for both charging and data transfer. As for speakers? The entire screen is turned into one using something called Body SoundCasting tech. (Yeah, that means no headphone jack either.)
All of these innovations are more subtle than a big and expensive folding screen phone, which is exactly why they have a higher likelihood of making their way into the next phone you buy.
