Why have a single color smartphone when you can have thousands? Tecno has the solution with the Chamaleon Coloring Technology, a shell capable of changing color on demand. Almost magical!
Smartphone manufacturers pay particular attention to the appearance of their devices to appeal to consumers. Rounded edges, thickness, border size… Nothing is left to chance! The choice of colors is no exception, and it is not uncommon for users to have the right to limited editions or customizable models. But what to do for those who cannot choose or who cannot find their happiness? AT On the occasion of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023, which opened its doors in Barcelona earlier this week, the Chinese manufacturer Tecno demonstrates its know-how with a shell whose color can be changed on demand. Called Chamaleon Coloring Technology, it allows a smartphone to instantly change color up to 2 million times, after which it becomes potentially dysfunctional – but that’s still quite a lifespan, with 100 changes per day for 55 years!
Chamaleon Coloring Technology: a smartphone with 1,600 colors
Contrary to what one might think at first glance, it is not a simple “shell” that you stick to the back of your smartphone. If Tecno’s technology is indeed affixed to the back of the device, it is far from trivial. As reported AndroidAuthority, it is a material made up of submicron prisms – less than a micron in size – controlled by electricity which scatters light when it hits it. By precisely changing the direction of the prism, the user can alter the color they see when this light scatters. The choice is made from an application on the smartphone from among 1,600 different colors and is applied instantly – in exactly 30 milliseconds. One could fear that such a technology turns out to be energy-intensive and affects the battery of the device. Tecno claims that this is not the case since the energy consumed for 100 color changes would be equivalent to that of watching a YouTube video for 5 minutes.
Eventually, Tecno hopes that Smartphones equipped with Chamaleon Coloring Technology will be able to automatically change color based on battery status, music or notifications. This is not the first time that a brand has presented a material of this type. The Chinese manufacturer had already presented a similar cover on the Tecno Camon 19 Pro Mondrian Edition of 2022, although the mechanism was somewhat different, since the color changed thanks to ultraviolet light and this color change could not be controlled by the user. Before him, Vivo and Realme had already tried the experiment. For the moment, even though Tecno has presented its technology, it has not yet announced a smartphone that will be equipped with it. It remains to know the cost, which can quickly increase the bill for a device that is surely already expensive.