ZTE’s Axon 20 5G is the world’s first phone with an under-display selfie camera

Somewhat tediously, much of smartphone warfare in the last few years has centred around how manufacturers can get a front-facing camera into their latest phone while sacrificing as little of the screen as possible. We’ve had the notch, the hole-punch and various takes on the pop-up, but ZTE’s Axon 20 5G is the first smartphone in the world to have a selfie snapper under the display. To balance the performance of the display and the 32MP front camera, ZTE ‘adopted high transparency material that includes new organic and inorganic films’ to improve light input to the lens. ZTE has also created an algorithm that helps optimise the camera’s performance in less than brilliant lighting. We’ll reserve judgement until we’ve had a go ourselves. Otherwise this is a relatively unspectacular mid-ranger. It has an enormous 6.92in FHD+ OLED display, a quad camera rear setup (64MP main, 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP depth, 2MP macro), a 4200mAH battery, up to 8GB of RAM and a Snapdagon 765G under the hood. And as the name tells us, it’s 5G-ready. China-only for now. Watch this space.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns