Color-changing back panels are not new: vivo has made them mainstream since the V23 series, and TECNO has a similar concept with the Mondrian Edition of the Camon 19. Infinix also explored a similar (but unique) approach with their Concept Phone 2021, but TECNO is doing a new approach with its Chameleon Coloring Technology, which is among the different innovations it has unveiled at MWC 2023.

Instead of needing sunlight to change color, TECNO makes use of a full-spectrum, electronically-controlled prism for its Chameleon Coloring tech that helps it refract light in various wavelengths, giving it an appearance of a broader set of colors to showcase.

In a nutshell, the idea is that its color-changing effect is similar to how you program RGB lighting on smart bulbs–in this case, you control the color of the phone’s back panel through an app. However, the approach TECNO did here is different as the Chameleon Coloring tech is NOT a display nor it produces light–instead, it reflects the light that hits the surface.

The tech also allows you to choose from 1600 different colors or dynamically change based on battery status, music being played, or notifications received. TECNO claims that you can change the colors of its Chameleon Coloring tech by as much as 2 million times, allowing you to freely tweak it multiple times in a day. They also claim that a 100 color changes throughout the day only requires the same power consumption as watching a 5-minute video.

We don’t know if TECNO will make it available to any devices in the near future, but it is a fun approach towards color-changing backs.