The punch hole design first surfaced late last year. Expected to be the trend this year, most manufacturers have stuck to notches and pop-up selfie cameras. Most of the phones with a punch-hole display have been from the same manufacturers that pioneered the design and they are Huawei and Samsung. However, 2020 may actually be the year of the punch hole as more manufacturers will be adopting the design. ZTE may be among the adopters too but their design is unlike any we have seen.

A patent filed by the company at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) in April 2019 was published a few days ago. The patent which is for a “display panel, camera device, terminal, and screen manufacturing method” describes a phone with a really small punch hole camera.

The size of the hole isn’t the interesting part but where it is located. Rather than placing it in the middle of the screen or in the corner as we have seen on the Galaxy Note 10 and Huawei Nova 5i respectively, the punch hole is nestled between the network and battery icons at the top of the screen. You can still say it is positioned in the corner but it is different since the hole is smaller and the icons flanking it on each side make it less noticeable.

LetsGoDigital has created renders based on the patent description to give us an idea of the design but the final product may be different.

The punch hole design isn’t the only thing about the patent. The description also mentions the phone will not have a traditional earpiece but will use Sound-on-Display technology. We have seen this technology appear on a number of phones such as the LG G8 ThinQ and the Galaxy A80. This technology vibrates the display to transmit sound and allows for a more full-screen device.

The Axon 10 Pro is ZTE’s flagship for 2019. It has an affordable price tag that made it a contender for the “flagship killer” title when it launched, runs near-stock Android on the international version, has a curved AMOLED display, triple cameras with optical zoom and support for wireless charging. We expect its successor will come with better features and hope it retains its affordable price tag.

UP NEXT: ZTE Blade 20 Smart and Blade A7s launched in China; Specifications, features and price

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The LG G8 should launch as LG‘s first flagship for the year and it appears it will be coming with an interesting feature.

According to OnLeaks, the LG G8 will come with a feature called “Sound on Display” based on info from a source. This isn’t the first time we have heard of this technology and to be honest, it isn’t even new. Last year, Samsung demoed a phone with the technology at a display event. It was rumored then that the feature will come with one of their flagships in 2019. It was also said that LG was working on bringing it to its mobile phones too.

According to my sources, #LGG8 will feature Sound on Display (SoD) technology…

— Steve H.McFly (@OnLeaks) January 3, 2019

LG already has TVs with the technology. Its Crystal Sound OLED TVs don’t have a traditional speaker, instead, sounds are produced by vibrating the display panel. The sound is actually produced by vibrations of the screen caused by what is called an exciter which is positioned behind the screen. The audio is actually very clear and loud and the vibrations do not affect the display. Now that technology has been shrunk down to fit into a phone.

The advantage this brings is that the top bezel where the receiver sits on your regular phone can be completely eliminated. The front camera already has multiple new homes, so that isn’t an issue.

READ MORE: LG announces Android Pie update roadmap, G7 ThinQ gets it first

At the moment, we do not know what the LG G8 looks like, so we can’t say if the switch from a traditional speaker to Sound on Display means the phone will have an edge-to-edge display.

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Smartphone manufacturers are currently trying to offer devices with full-screen display and minimal bezels. With the trend that popularised after Apple launched iPhone with a notch, other smartphones have picked up the trend and have even pushed it further.

A few China-based manufacturers like Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, and others have come up with unique smartphone designs that eliminate the need of a display notch. Now, it looks like Samsung is also trying for the same, with its own take.

According to the report from Korean news outlet ETNews, the South Korean giant will showcase its new “Sound on Display” (SoD) OLED display panels during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 next month in Las Vegas, US. As the name itself suggests, in SoD panel, the sound emits from the display itself and eliminates the need for external speakers.

Samsung’s Sound on Display technology uses vibration and bone conduction, which gives the company the opportunity to place yet another component beneath the screen’s surface, providing more room for the display.

This was first demonstrated by the company during SID DisplayWeek in May this year. It was showcased on a device featuring a 6.22-inch display and 2960 x 1440 pixels screen resolution. The technology, which LG is also working on, could help manufacturers turn the whole screen into a speaker.

While the company is all set to publicly demonstrate its new Sound of Display technology, there’s no information regarding its availability for manufacturers or to know certainly that it is ready for the commercial launch.

Read More: Samsung is working on ‘Bright Night’ feature for low-light photography similar to Google’s Night Sight

Given that it will be showcased during CES 2019, we have no doubt that the Sound on Display won’t be available in the company’s upcoming flagship smartphones for the year 2019 and we highly doubt its available in early 2020 as well. Only time will tell when we’ll be able to experience this new SoD panels from Samsung.

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