ZTE has already announced that it will launch the first mass-produced 5G-enabled smartphone with an under-display camera in China next month, and now the company has shared new images that give us a better understanding of what the screen ‘ the phone can actually look out of place (via Dutch website Tweakers).
In the render at the top of this post you can see that the phone, which will be called the ZTE Axon 20 5G, has no visible camera on top – no hole punch, no notch. The render was shared by the president of ZTE of mobile devices Ni Fei on the Chinese social media network Weibo.
And in this next render, also shared by Fei on Weibo, you can get an idea of what that no-camera screen might look like when it’s uploaded. It looks pretty clean, if you ask me, even with that hint of the bottom edge. (There is always the chance that one of the black dots represents other types of cameras cow be an actual visible camera on the Axon 20 5G, but that seems unlikely considering what ZTE has already claimed over the upcoming phone.)
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Image: ZTE
ZTE is not the first to talk about a camera under-display – a number of phone manufacturers have followed the technology, including Oppo and Xiaomi. But it is not yet clear if these cameras will work exactly as what you might have been used to on your iPhone or Pixel. Engadget said the under-screen Selfie camera in an Oppo prototype had “room for improvement in terms of clarity and color accuracy” back in June 2019, and we do not yet know if the new ZTE camera will have similar issues.
ZTE has also not said if the Axon 20 5G will launch anywhere outside of China, so if an under-screen selfie camera is something you’ve been waiting for and you do not live there, you may have to wait a little longer to try it one.
