Xiaomi Is Exploring Ways to Store Earbuds Inside Smartphones

• Xiaomi has secured two patents indicating a housing compartment for wireless earbuds on a smartphone.
• The earbuds would dub as the device’s speaker, as some space needs to be made available for them to fit in.
• The patents aren’t providing many details, particularly on the technical aspect, so we can only wait for now.

The wireless earbud has become an indispensable accessory today, with virtually all consumer electronic manufacturers selling at least one model. The craze started with the Apple AirPods, although some claim to have discovered the key aspects of the technology first.

Then, Apple removed the headphone jack from its devices, and everyone followed along the same path. This made wireless earbuds the de facto choice, but having to carry a charging case with you is truly a bummer. Not doing that increases the risk of damaging or losing your pair, so something needs to be done.

Related: ‘Koss’ Is Accusing Everyone of Copying Its Wireless Earphone Tech

Xiaomi has made reality the obvious yet seemingly impossible thought of making space in its smartphones to secure the earbuds. The earbuds would possibly be charged directly from the phone’s battery, so in general, there would be no need for a case.

According to “Lets Go Digital,” the Chinese tech products maker has secured two patents that point to this idea. The first one describes a mobile phone featuring two holes on the top portion, which can be used to place the earphones.

The second patent describes the earbuds with turnable heads to point upwards when they enter the housing. Moreover, when stored, the earbuds can serve as the phone’s speakers. So, this is essentially how Xiaomi would manage to save enough space to create a storing compartment for the earbuds to sit inside the device, which is at least theoretically.

There are no further details given in the two patents, so the rest is left to people’s imagination. Lets Go Digital mentions hygiene, with ear wax getting mixed with dirt and dust every time the buds enter the storing hole, but there can be no innovative designs without accepting a compromise or two.

In general, we can say that smartphone design is exiting its “boring phase” years where everything looks more or less the same, as companies are reopening to experimentation.

In other news, more foldable devices are soon to be announced from Motorola and Samsung, everyone is in the process of putting cameras under the screen, Sony is exploring the possibility of implementing pop-up speakers on its phones, gaming devices are incorporating cooling fans. And now, Xiaomi wants to solve the issue of having to carry around wireless earbuds as separate pieces.