The first sub-display camera smartphone, ZTE Axon 20 5G

Is there a pound in the future?

Last week I received a preview version of the first commercially available smartphone with a camera under its display, the ZTE Axon 20 5G. Not only is the selfie camera under the screen, but also the biometric fingerprint sensor. The result is actually a phone with a full front screen. And which screen: nearly seven inches of high-resolution OLED screen with a refresh rate of 90 hertz.

And, importantly: no notch!

There is a lot to talk about with this phone and we will totally get it. But the first and most obvious question that everyone hears when they hear about a subwoofer camera is not surprising: what kind of quality are we talking about here? I will share some pictures below, but spoiler warning: the answer is pretty much what you would expect. No, the selfie camera in front of the ZTE Axon 20 5G is not going to win National Geographic awards for image quality.

But, and here ‘s a big thing: it’ s not terrible.

So if selfies are not so great for you, that should not stop you from buying this phone. Especially if screen size and quality is one of your most important factors – along with, perhaps, 5G speed. Personally I’m not a big selfie catcher, so I put a lot more focus on the quality of the main camera, which we get into as well.

First, the specs:

• 32-megapixel selfie camera
• Large four-camera area on the back, including a 64-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel wide angle, 2-megapixel depth lens, and 2-megapixel macro lens
• Indoor light sensors, camera, fingerprint sensor, and sound
• 6.92 ”OLED screen at 2,460 with 1,080 pixels and 90 hertz refresh
• 10-bit color depth
• 4K, 60 frames / second video recording, with video stability
• 5G cell technology, with a 360-degree surround antenna that improves signal stability “up to 50%” and download speeds “up to 30%”
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 756G
• 4220 mA battery with fast charge: 30 minutes to 60%
• 7.98 millimeters thick, 198 grams
• $ 449

While the phone is now on sale, ZTE has opted for a complex membership invitation system to come with a “club” to get a code with which you can buy the phone. Initially it will be available in most of Europe and as well as Japan, Korea, and a few other countries. It will not be available in the US or China immediately.

All right. The selfie cam

Putting a camera under a screen is not easy.

In another way to take it off, ZTE had to design a series of new technologies, including a transparent cathode, a new type of OLED screen, and a transparent pixel matrix for high visibility. ZTE collectively claims that it is a “nano-level material” that is very visible. The company also worked on a new algorithm – the “triple selfie algorithm” – to get better views.

Does it work? That’s up to you.

First off: fair warning. The selfies I took for testing are from me, and I had surgery for skin cancer. So I still have a few loops and swelling, and the surgery caused a bad black eye. If you’re squeamish, scroll past quickly!

The ZTE Axon 20 5G is on the left; my daily driver is iPhone 11 Pro on the right side.

It doesn’t feature photos to see the differences: much deeper color in last year’s iPhone Pro camera, and better resolution from a lower-megapixel camera. The iPhone Pro 11’s camera is 12 megapixels; the Axon 20’s is 36 megapixels. My ugly mug is clearly brighter and less focused. The light isn’t particularly suitable, but the iPhone 11’s picture is clearly better.

That said, I am not a teenage girl.

So I might take a few fewer selfies than your average person, and the quality of the selfie camera doesn’t bother me much. Yes, we work remotely now and that means a lot of video conferencing, but that all happens on my laptop.

The other question with a selfie camera under the screen is whether it hinders screen quality, and the answer to that is a big question. You can get the selfie camera if you look closely at an angle in some lighting situations, but of course it is not visible or even visible.

The other cameras

With that said, I have to say that the other cameras on the Axon 20 5G are impressive. There are four of them, first, and the main one you use most of the time is clear, sharp, fast and clear.

Christmas trees are hard-hitting themes, with plenty of light and dark spots, twinkly objects, and intricate details. The Axon 20 5G did a good job here – probably better than my iPhone.

I need more time to take some pictures with the Axon 20 5G and compare them against the iPhone and other smartphone cameras, but the early results are pretty promising. So: more on that later.

Suffice it to say for now that you have wide angle and macro capability, as well as a night mode that makes dark situation photos look amazing, if they are something unreasonable. And there’s 4K video recording, as well as video setup.

That big screen

I need to spend some time on the big screen of the phone. This is one of the biggest I have ever had in my hand: a large 6.92 ”OLED screen at 2,460 by 1,080 pixels. That’s bigger than the new iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is 6.68 inches, while the larger iPhone has a slightly higher resolution at 2,778 by 1,284 pixels. The latest iPhone, however, still has only a 60 hertz refresh rate, while the ZTE updates 90 times per second.

Simply put: it’s an immersive screen for watching full-screen videos on.

Additional benefit: the phone I already have feels a tiny bit in my hand compared to the Axon 20.

The phone’s screen is quite curved at the bottom, with a larger chin than I expected – and wider than the bezel at the top or sides – but it’s not terribly unbelievable.

Oh, and playing games on the big screen is a different ball game. Games I tried worked well on the device, thanks to Google’s work on Android and the efforts of game publishers to support multiple screen sizes and resolutions, and changed some of how I played mobile games to have more space … in a good way.

As an iPhone user who now uses Face ID to unlock my phone normally – which doesn’t play well with masks – I enjoyed being able to unlock my phone with my thumb. And it was easy to put on screen, fast, painless and very natural after just a few sessions.

Everything and oh yeah, 5G too

You rarely look at a 5G phone and the 5G features are one of the last elements you focus on. At least not now, when 5G phones are not yet the norm. But extra speed is always welcome, and ZTE says the new antennas it added in the Axon 20 are not just thinner, they are 50% better. They go all the way around the phone and improve download speed, ZTE says.

Again, I need to do more experimentation to see what that means in the real world.

One good thing: ZTE has integrated cellular communication with WiFi, which it says will reduce latency for games with more than half. For example, if WiFi latency is around 115 milliseconds, combined WiFi and 5G usage can be reduced to 54 milliseconds. Again, your miles can be different.

Summary

My first thoughts: this is a great phone for those who want a big (very) screen, 5G, and good main camera performance. If you take a lot of selfies and that’s important to you, you may need to settle for a pound or another solution so that your photos pop up a little more.

Battery life was impressive in a test, sound quality (and size) was among the best I’ve heard from a phone, and overall build quality is impressive.

I will update with more comments as I go, but I recommend this phone for Android users. And it might attract a few iPhone owners as well.