ZTE revealed a couple of weeks back that it will launch a smartphone equipped with an under-display fingerprint sensor. Later on, details emerged that the phone will adopt the moniker Axon 20 5G and we also saw some of the details and renders via leaks and teasers. True to its word, the company has gone official with the Axon 20 5G. The smartphone comes as the world’s first under-display camera phone. 
Axon 20 5G: Specs & Features
The Axon 20 5G’s main selling point is definitely the under-display camera which it packs and that has a high influence on the display design. The Axon 20 5G packs a 6.92-inch OLED screen that covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and supports 10-bit color depth. The display also supports a 90Hz high refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, and provides a true, unobstructed full-screen view. The display has an FHD+ resolution of 2460×1080 pixels.
ZTE says it was able to achieve the under-screen camera design by deploying five core technologies, including special materials, dual-control chips, unique driver circuits, a special pixel matrix, and an in-house selfie algorithm. With these technologies, ZTE was able to overcome numerous technical challenges during research and development.
The company also uses a high-transparency material for the display that balances the performance of the display and the front camera. The material includes new organic and inorganic films, thereby improving the light input of the display area to the front camera.
Moreover, a built-in independent dual-control chip and integrated driver circuits have been employed to enable the color synchronization between the front camera and the conventional display. In addition, a unique driver circuit layout design and precision miniaturization components have been used to avoid interference, and restrain the impact on the front camera. ZTE also created a special matrix that can optimize pixels and improve display consistency, thereby creating a more natural transition. The technology sounds similar to Xiaomi’s own under-display camera solution.
Furthermore, ZTE’s front-camera selfie algorithm has optimized the performance of the camera under several lighting conditions. It also supports automatic dynamic range adjustment, hence the great improvement of the photo clarity and the image contrast.
Apart from the under-screen camera, the Axon 20 5G also features an ultra-thin design with a thickness of 7.98 mm. The entire smartphone weighs 198 grams, making it relatively light (this can be subjective) and thin to hold. You also get an under-screen speaker and under-screen fingerprint scanner onboard the device.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset fires up the Axon 20 5G. The mid-range SoC has become quite popular with many Chinese smartphone brands with models such as the Mi 10 Lite 5G, Redmi K30i 5G, OPPO Reno 4/4 Pro, OnePlus Nord, Nubia Red Magic 5G Lite, and several others utilizing the chipset. The processor is a 7nm octa-core chipset with a Kryo 475 Prime core (Cortex-A76) clocked at 2.4GHz, a Kryo 475 Gold core (Cortex-A76) clocked at 2.2GHz and six Kryo 475 Silver cores (Cortex-A55) clocked at 1.8GHz.
The processor is paired with 6GB RAM and there is also an 8GB RAM version. The phone comes in 128GB and 256GB storage options. 
The rear panel of the Axon 20 5G is made of high-hardness 3D curved glass with a ten-layer structure stack design. The panel is coated using vacuum optical coating thus forming a nano-level streamer illusion texture. The back houses a Quad camera setup stacked at the upper left corner. The sensors include a 64MP Ultra-high pixel main camera. There is also an 8MP 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP depth of field lens, and a 2MP macro lens.
Further, the ZTE Axon 20 5G is equipped with as many as 12 antennas, 3-4 more antennas than those of other suppliers. It adopts a 360-degree surround integrated design. The 12 antennas are intelligently arranged around the mobile phone, and each has its own functions. The phone comes with dual-band 5G. When the mobile network environment becomes weak and the network speed of a 5G card is too slow, ZTE Axon 20’s unique network detection algorithm can intelligently identify and automatically switch wireless data services to the second 5G SIM instantly, realizing 5G dual-card seamless switch to ensure smooth networking.
Keeping the lights on is a 4220mAh battery which charges via a USB-C port. The phone supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ and supports 30W fast-charging.
Pricing & Availability
As for the pricing, ZTE Axon 20 5G 6GB + 128GB variant starts at 2198 yuan ($322). The 8GB+128GB version is priced at 2498 yuan (~$366) while the 8GB + 256GB option goes for 2798 yuan (~$410). The phone is presently on pre-order and will go on sale on September 10 in China.
