Beijing Dec 18 (IANS): Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has patented a pull-out phone with a side bar. The patent was approved and published on December 6.

There are some product images included where a device is shown that can be pulled into a tablet format, news portal GizmoChina reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the cameras are placed at the rear, which a user will notice when the smartphone is pulled out. The front cameras are placed on a sidebar, similar to the Mi Mix Alpha.

Additionally, the company also patented a foldable smartphone with five pop-up camera setup.

According to the patent, this foldable phone has an outward-folding screen and depending on how a user holds it, the five cameras can either be rear cameras or front-facing cameras.

The sketches of the device suggest that it will have a really thin bezels and no display notch. The patent seems to have been submitted on August 20 and was approved and published last week.

Xiaomi is expected to release a foldable phone by the end of 2019.