Depending on who you ask, it was either the Apple iPhone X or the Essential PH-1 that introduced the notch in our displays. If you ask us, it was Essential, and the PH-1 also has the smallest notch among the phones employing it. That is until OPPO will unveil the “waterdrop screen” on its upcoming F9. The company claims it will have a screen to body ratio of 90.8%.

Whether it will be just a local Malaysian phone, or it will have global availability is yet unknown. OPPO Malaysia posted the above teaser and we can clearly see an Essential phone-like small cutout for the notch on the top.

The F-series is a selfie-oriented product family, with the F5 packing a 20MP webcam, and the F7 a 25MP front-facer. The F9 will reduce the notch to probably the minimum cutout size necessary to hold the webcam (and the earpiece).

…and then there’s the question about that “waterdrop screen” and the message accompanying the teaser image. “A drop of rain falls on the leaf will shine they say, but how if it falls on the screen? Get ready to welcome the OPPO F9 with new waterdrop screen, a breaking new vision experience for you!” Our guess is some sort of waterproofing, but it could very well represent a 2.5D screen for narrowing the side bezels. Our guess is as good as yours. Expect to see an official announcement for the OPPO F9 in August.