A little over a few ago, we reported companies like Xiaomi and Oppo were working on under-display cameras to remove the notch on smartphones. This works by having the phone display a black bar (that means transparent) above the camera while taking a photo, and reverting to normal display once the photo is taken or video is shot.
At the time, picture quality left to be desired, so more work was needed, but the first phone with an under-display camera is now available for ZTE Axon 20 5G selling for 2,198 RMB (~$322) and up in China.
ZTE Axon 20 5G specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G octa-core processor with 1x Kryo 475 Prime (Cortex-A76 class) @ 2.4GHz, 1x Kryo 475 Gold (Cortex-A76 class) @ 2.2GHz, 6x Kryo 475 Silver (Cortex-A55 class) @ 1.8GHz
- System Memory – 6 or 8GB RAM
- Storage – 128GB or 256GB flash MicroSD card slot (shared with one Nano SIM slot)
- Display – 6.92-inch’ FHD+ (2460×1080) OLED display
- Camera
- 64MP + 8MP (120-degree wide-angle) + 2MP (depth) + 2MP (macro) rear camera
- 32MP front-facing camera
- Cellular Network
- 5G – n41/38/78/77/28/1/3/7
- 4G LTE
- FDD – B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/26/28
- TDD – B34/38/39/40/41
- 3G UMTS – B1/2/4/5/8
- 2G GSM – B2/3/5/8
- 4x4MIMO
- Nano SIM + nano SIM/micro SD sockets
- USB – USB Type-C port
- Other Wireless Connectivity
- Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1
- NFC
- GNSS – GPS, A-GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS
- Sensors – Accelerometer, Proximity & Ambient, Compass, Gyroscope, fingerprint scanner
- Battery – 4,220 mAh with 30W Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ support
- Dimensions – 172.1 x 77.9 x 7.98 mm
- Weight – 198 grams
The phone runs Android Q (Android 11) with MiFavor 10.5 UI system. The under-display camera is joined with an under-display fingerprint reader and under-display sound according to the English press release.
Three variants are offered:
- 2,198 RMB ($322) with 6GB RAM, 128GB storage
- 2,498 RMB ($366) with 8GB RAM, 128GB storage
- 2,798 RMB ($410) with 8GB RAM, 256GB storage
New features are often found in premium phones first, but Axon 20 5G specs and price makes it closer to a mid-range phone. We’ll have to wait for reviews to find out how well the under-display front-facing camera really works.
If you are based in China, you can purchase the phone on Tmall or JD.com. More details can be found in ZTE blog post (in Chinese).
Via Liliputing
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Whatever happened to their beefy audio (ESS Saber chips) that existed on phones like the Axon 7! I hope they bring it back in a future model.
Now this is real evolution. I recently switched to a OnePlus 7T Pro because of the notchless screen. I like the motorized popup camera, but under display front camera is the way to go. Samsung will probably introduce this in 2 years minimum. I hope OnePlus will be among the first to introduce it in their phones.