First-ever smartphone with under-display front camera to launch in China

ZTE has announced the forthcoming launch of the Axon 20, its first ever bezel-less smartphone. Image: ZTE

Chinese manufacturer ZTE will present the first-ever production smartphone with a front camera under the display on Sept. 1, 2020. Billed as a remarkable technical feat, the new device will also be the first truly bezel-less model of its kind.

Several smartphone concepts with under-display front cameras were presented in 2019. At the time, Oppo and Xiaomi appeared to be leading the race to bring the feature to the market. However, both of these companies are about to be overtaken by ZTE, which will be the first manufacturer to launch a production model.

Being able to position a selfie camera under the display allows for a notch-free design and a screen that fully covers one side of the phone. This amounts to quite a technical achievement because the display which is located between the camera and subjects to be photographed has to be invisible. Details on how this has been achieved with the new ZTE model remain scant, but it is known the device will be equipped with a 32-megapixel front camera.

The world’s first under-display camera smartphone, ZTE Axon 20 5G, will be launched in China on September 1st, 2020. #5G #ZTE #leading5ginnovations Check it out: https://t.co/DGdPjvDvvC pic.twitter.com/NeN6z7mFQB

— ZTE Corporation (@ZTEPress) August 17, 2020

In recent years, manufacturers have made progress in repositioning fingerprint readers, which are now located under phone displays, but selfie cameras remained the final obstacle in the quest to achieve the overall goal of a phone with a fully edge-to-edge screen.

The ZTE Axon 20 will initially only be available on the Chinese market. CC

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