Lenovo Vice President Chang Cheng is teasing a new phone on
China’s Weibo social network that’s nothing but screen framed by an ultra-thin
bezel (via CNET). While Apple might claim that the iPhone X is “all screen,”
its infamous notch — and the rash of Android imitators that followed — says
otherwise.
The sketch of the upcoming Lenovo Z5 follows the earlier
release of a partial image alongside a claim that the phone would feature an
impressive screen-to-body ratio of 95 percent. Cheng also says the Z5 will
include four technological breakthroughs including 18 patented technologies.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for the details, particularly around how
Lenovo will handle a presumed front-facing camera.
Z5 teaser shared last week. Image: Chang Cheng
The Mi Mix 2, for example, has a 91.3 percent screen-to-body
ratio, which is amongst the industry’s best, but it still requires a bezel
along the bottom to host the phone’s front-facing camera. Vivo’s Apex concept
uses a pop-up selfie camera to help trim the bezels, but it still requires a
similar “chin” to hide the OLED’s display controller. Only Apple, thus far, has
found a way to avoid the chin by folding the OLED panel back underneath itself.
Several other technologies have been introduced over the
past few years to enable so-called “bezel-less” designs on modern phones.
In-display fingerprint sensors are now a reality, as are ultrasound proximity
sensors and piezoelectric earpieces as seen in the Xiaomi Mi Mix back in 2016.
Lenovo, whose $2.91 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility
from Google has fallen short of expectations, is being beaten at home and
abroad by local brands Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi. The tech giant is
desperate for a hit phone that can capture the world’s attention.
Cheng wrote on Weibo that the Z5 would come with four new
technologies that should effectively lead to removing the bezels from all
sides, including space usually taken by the camera, the earpiece or the
fingerprint scanner.
All three of them can already be implemented in a smartphone
though: the camera can come out like a periscope, similar to the vivo Apex
Concept Phone, a piezoelectric ceramic driver for the earpiece is already part
of the panel since the first iteration of Xiaomi Mi Mix, and under-display
fingerprint scanners are a thing since the vivo X20 Plus UD.
June 14 is the date of the official announcement for the
Lenovo Z5 when Cheng is expected to reveal how Lenovo managed to break the 95%
StB ratio barrier.
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