World’s first phone with an under-display front camera launched by ZTE

Published by Yamna Ali Monday, December 21, 2020

We have seen numerous innovations in smartphones over the past few years. From in-display fingerprint sensor to notched screens, foldable phones to pop-up selfie camera, and a lot more, the manufacturers have been pretty creative with the designs of smartphones. Approaches to achieving the maximum screen-to-body display ratio have also been observed in various smartphones.

The latest advancement in the smartphone’s bezel wars is by ZTE which released a new Axon 20 5G, the first-ever smartphone having an in-display selfie camera. The phone goes live on sale today. In-display fingerprint sensors have become very common now, but integrating the selfie camera into the screen is surely difficult. ZTE beats Oppo and Xiaomi in the race who had been showing the demos for years but have not yet come up with a commercial device.

The cell phone itself is packed with some very impressive specs such as a huge 6.92 inches’ diagonal screen, 90Hz OLED panel, which makes the 1080p resolution looks less sharp than other phones. Talking about camera integration, the area where the camera is placed seems to have a dithering effect than the rest of the screen. If you look closely, you can see a small square with a lower resolution. It is, however, not a very noticeable thing in general use because phones with a punch-hole or notch have a bigger distraction on the notification bar.

Compared to Google Pixel 5 above: The picture quality of the in-screen camera appears to capture soft pictures with weak colors even in good daylight.



Picture in low light is more obliterated. The picture above compares Axon 20 5G with Google Pixel 5 again with night mode turned off for a fairer comparison and clearly, Pixel 5 punches off Axon 20 5G.

The device has some great specs as well such as a considerably large battery of 4200 mAh and the Snapdragon 765G processor along with a 5G modem. Presenting such a smartphone in the market is undoubtedly a milestone for ZTE, but we are unsure that who the device will be best for. The innovation tried by the company seems to be a bigger distraction than a notch and punch-hole displays. This must not have been an issue if the picture quality was not compromised, but what is the point of investing in such a device that came up with a new but bad-quality advancement?