The smartphone with… 1.600 colours has arrived!

Chinese company Tecno “stole” the show at MWC 2023 with the impressive technology it unveiled for the back of a smartphone, allowing users to change its colour or set it to change automatically depending on the device's status (e.g. to show the battery level).

The technology's official name is Chameleon Coloring Technology, and it involves placing an array of glass prisms on the back of the device, which change colour when an electrical charge passes through them. Essentially, the electrical signal changes the position of the prisms, causing light to reflect differently and change their colour. The challenge for Tecno is to adapt the technology for use in mobile devices and give users control over the process (i.e. sending the electrical signal).

Choose from 1.600 colours!

This will presumably be handled by dedicated software on the device, which the company says will initially offer a choice of 1.600 colours for various functions. For example, the back could automatically turn red to indicate a low battery or change colours to the beat when you listen to music.

Watch the video:

Reports suggest that the prisms' response time (under a second) made an impression during Tecno's demo. The company says the prisms can withstand around 2 million colour changes before losing this ability and believes this is enough to cover the average lifespan of a smartphone.

As for energy consumption, Chameleon Coloring Technology will have some impact on the battery, but not as much as we might imagine. 1000 colour changes use as much battery power as a 5-minute video on YouTube.

It sounds interesting, but it is worth noting that ambient light is needed for users to see the colour change.