ZTE is launching a 5G phone with the world’s first in-display camera next month

Something to look forward to: After hearing about the technology for the last few years, the first mass-produced smartphone with an under-screen camera arrives next month, and it will come from ZTE. The Chinese giant has announced that the ZTE Axon 20 5G will launch on September 1 in its home country.

Back in 2018, an in-screen camera was one of the technologies Samsung talked about in its plans to kill off smartphone notches. The run-up to each new Galaxy device has brought rumors that it would feature the technology, but even the most recent Note 20 lacked such a feature. Leaker Ice Universe believes Samsung will implement it in next year’s S21 (or whatever it’s called), but we’ll have to wait and see.

ZTE does emphasize that its handset is the first “mass-produced” phone with an in-display camera. Both Xiaomi and Oppo showed off the technology last year, but the devices were just concepts that haven’t gone on sale.

Do you want a sneak peek at the future? Here you go…introducing you to Under-Display Camera technology!#Xiaomi #InnovationForEveryone pic.twitter.com/d2HL6FHkh1

— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) June 3, 2019

The ZTE Axon 20 5G sounds more like a mid-range smartphone than a top-end model with a standout feature. According to a Chinese certification agency, it uses the Snapdragon 765G SoC and has a 6.92-inch 1,080 x 2,460 OLED screen. Camera-wise, the rear setup consists of a 64MP primary, with an 8MP ultra-wide and two 2MP lenses. It lists the selfie cam as being a 32MP snapper, and it comes with 6GB, 8GB, or 12GB of RAM and 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB of storage. Battery size is listed as 4,120mAh.

Whether the phone will be available globally is unclear. Its ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G predecessor, which ZTE says was the first commercial 5G smartphone, was only available in China, Nordic countries, and the Middle East.

One of the problems we’ve seen with in-display cameras is that the quality of the images they capture isn’t the best. Hopefully, it’s something that ZTE has managed to address. If the phone proves a success, it could ultimately lead to the end of notches.