OnePlus had us in awe when it announced the OnePlus Concept One, a phone that could hide its rear cameras behind a layer of glass. OnePlus achieved the camera-hiding magic by covering the lenses with a strip of what it calls electrochromic glass, which automatically darkens when the cameras are not in use. While alternating between transparent and a dark tint on the glass was an impressive feat, vivo is experimenting with something that is truly breathtaking – a rear panel that changes its color.

https://twitter.com/nsnadeemsarwar/status/1301604003956928512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

No, this is not a gradient design that appears to change color when light falls on it from different angles. We’ve already seen those effects come to life on the Aura Glow shade of the Galaxy Note 10 and the OnePlus 8’s Interstellar Shade. What we’re talking about is a rear panel that actually changes color/

As per a post by vivo’s official Weibo handle, the magic behind this impressive feat is the same electrochromic technology used by OnePlus. Now, this is not a truly novel technology, as electrochromic glass (also known as smart glass or dynamic glass) is used in cars, windows, skylights, etc. and changes color/tint via electric stimulus.

https://twitter.com/nsnadeemsarwar/status/1301609275291127813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

But replicating it on a smartphone’s entire rear panel is noteworthy, and the Chinese company also makes it clear that the effect is very hard to achieve. Another important aspect while working on it was to ensure that the rear panel does not drain the battery as it changes its color. The video is in Chinese, but from what we can extract from Google Translate, it appears that the rear panel will change color to remind users about incoming notifications, calls, reminders, etc. 

Moreover, it is quite likely that users will be able to color-code each notification with a different shade on the rear panel for easy identification. vivo is still mum regarding when or on what phone we are going to see a color-changing rear panel. But if the color transition is as smooth as shown in vivo’s video, the long wait will be worth it.

Source: Weibo / vivo

Via: GSMArena