ZTE Claims First Under-Screen Camera Phone Release

This week the folks at ZTE revealed that they'd be the first company to release a smartphone with an under-screen camera. That'll be the sort of front-facing camera on a smartphone that you cannot see with the naked eye! Or at least not without a very, very analytical eye and a thirst for looking very, very close.

According to the very brief announcement from ZTE, "Innovation has no bound," and ZTE is "a step closer to" their dream. They've announced that they will "show [their] hand" (like a poker hand is revealed) which is "the first phone with an under display camera in the world." They've also used the hashtag "#camerathatdisappears."

The social media post with the text (translated) above came from a smartphone called "ZTE A20 5G under-screen camera." That's a very unique and specific sort of name for a device, indicating ZTE knew what they were doing. At noted by XDA, the SRRC (State Radio Regulation of China) listed a device called ZTE A2121, complete with GSM, WCDMA, LTE, and 5G.

This device will likely use the tech created by Visionox. We can safely assume that Visionox will also be providing similar solutions for companies like Huawei and Xiaomi, as well as the OPPO (and related companies) collection. It would not be a shock to see the next OnePlus smartphone released with an under-screen front-facing camera by the time it's ready to roll in early 2021.

The first ZTE smartphone with a front-facing camera hidden below its display won't likely be available for sale in the USA. We'll probably see the first smartphone with an under-screen camera available in the USA in around Q2, 2021, from a company like OnePlus. That's not confirmed yet, but based on the pattern of tech releases to devices from China-based companies over the past half-decade, OnePlus seems like the best bet.