A dual‐backlight unit incorporating a single light source integrated with a beam splitting reflector was demonstrated, providing a surface light beam for both the keypad and display section simultaneously. The reflector was realized by aligning a groove substrate with a matching cover, and a light guiding module comprising a stack of light guide panels and prism/diffuser sheets was attached to both sides of the reflector. A light emanating from the light source—placed in the middle of the substrate—undergoes a series of reflections through the reflector to reach the input of the light guiding module. Then it is transformed into a surface light beam, which is used to irradiate the keypad and display sections. As for the accomplished dual‐backlight unit, the measured average luminance and the spatial luminance uniformity were respectively about 420 cd/m2 and 70% for the keypad section, and 640 cd/m2 and 80% for the display section. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 1257–1260, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24297