'OPPO R19' leak hints at the in-display selfie camera as a thing in 2019

The next step in smartphone display evolution is likely to be the 'teardrop' notch seen in devices such as the OPPO R17 Pro. Given the popular links between the two companies, there is much speculation that this feature will also be seen in the upcoming OnePlus 6T. The teardrop notch may improve on the by-now conventional 'unibrow' notch (that is all too prominent in even brand-new releases such as the Pixel 3 XL) on many levels.

A new leak may indicate that the teardrop may already have been supplanted in terms of screen-to-body ratio enhancements. It comes in the form of an image posted on Weibo by the prolific tipster IceUniverse, showing a phone with minimal side and top bezels - and a hole in the screen for the front-facing camera. This gives the appearance that the camera is floating under the top bezel, unanchored to it by a notch of any kind. The English-language text lines "OPPO R19" and "2019.3" appear next to this phone. 

This could indicate that an R17 successor is coming in March 2019, and that it will ditch the notch for good in favour of an in-display camera arrangement. It is hard to project where the other sensors typically found in the front panel of a phone will fit into this putative design choice. On the other hand, the phone in the picture also has a small chin that could conceivably house next-generation screen components. 

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