The road towards a seamless screen seems to be closer than ever, as ZTE will release the first 5G-capable smartphone with a built-in under-display camera in September, with the device arriving in China.
The company has shared official renders which show how the display of the device will look like. In one of the images, it is quite clear that the device doesn’t feature any visible camera sensor on the front. The seamless look is quite impressive.
Looking good
While the use of motorized cameras has been explored by some companies, it seems that most users aren’t excited by them, with some fearing that they are easy to break if the device is dropped, especially if the camera module is the first one to touch the ground. As such, most companies continue to rely on a notch or punch-hole camera style.
The look while the camera is active is quite pleasant, and it is clear that ZTE tried to create a visual aspect that would please everyone. It is unlikely that the camera will become visible on the screen by default, but some users might enjoy a proper visual cue of its location, so they don’ block it with their fingers.
New technology
Other brands are also working hard on the development of under-display cameras, including Oppo and Xiaomi. At this point, it is not clear if such implementations will be as good as the traditional camera modules found on smartphones, with early prototypes showing the need for some improvement.
For now, the Axon 20 5G will be available in China, but ZTE hasn’t mentioned if the device will be available at a global level or if it will be an exclusive.
If the early implementations of under-display cameras will be popular, it is likely that bigger smartphone manufacturers might explore them in the future.