One unfortunate side effect of bezel-less smartphone designs is the display notch, which leaves room for the front-facing camera (and face-scanning technology). One solution to this problem is the ZTE Axon 20 5G’s under-screen camera, and although it’s not particularly good, it’s still interesting to see how the technology works.

A recent teardown by YouTuber JerryRigEverything gives us a closer look at how the ZTE Axon 20 5G executed the under-display camera. Turns out, the device uses two screens stacked on top of one another, which allows the under-display camera to look out from beneath the top layer display. JerryRigEverything provides an insightful breakdown of every component used by ZTE, so the teardown is well worth the watch.

In practice, the ZTE Axon 20 5G’s front-facing camera could still use a lot of work. Here’s what we said in our review:

The problem with the camera is just how blurry it is, which seems to be a side effect of it being under the display itself. I know the two photos above are in lower light, but the same blurry smoothening effect can be seen in all lighting conditions. In fact, when in direct light, any light sources shown in the viewfinder will bloom heavily and destroy the photo quality entirely. The best way I can describe photos from this camera is “soft”.

While the execution isn’t flawless, the ZTE Axon 20 5G could signal where the smartphone industry is headed. That’s good news for consumers, because it means the days of hole-punch displays and notches are numbered. We just hope the technology can progress enough to one day match the quality of what devices currently offer.

For now, ZTE’s solution is the best we’ve got, even if it could use some work. But it could be an early taste of what may become the norm down the road.

ZTE Axon 20 5G Forums