Do you remember a phone called Axon M? It was the first smartphone that has two screens that’s folded outwards. Unlike the new Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, you’ll notice straight away from the front that it looks like two phones attached together side-by-side. If you find that ZTE’s creativity to be slightly intriguing, here’s a new one for you.
Recently, Notebook Italia has posted new leaked press renders showing two new handsets from ZTE, namely the ZTE Axon S and ZTE Axon V.
ZTE Axon S
The Axon S packs 5 cameras in total; two on the front and three on the rear. Both the front and rear cameras aren’t placed in the typical positions you’ll see on usual smartphones. In fact, you can’t see the cameras at all because the Axon S is designed with a sliding mechanism to the side, where the cameras are only revealed when you slide your phone sideways. Remember the time when cell phones used to slide upwards? Well, this is a similar approach but at a different orientation.
With this concept, you’ll get to enjoy an immersive FullView OLED display with very thin frames, allowing the handset to have a 95% screen-to-body ratio. There is an in-display fingerprint scanner under the screen and an earpiece on the upper frame which is barely noticeable. What makes the device stand out from the rest is the clean design on the rear – no cameras, branding, nothing.
Although the specs for the device has not been leaked just yet, Notebook Italia did give a rundown on the camera. You can expect a 48MP rear main camera, a 19MP secondary lens and 5x optical zoom. It also appears that the Axon S is a 5G enabled device as seen with the network icon on the renders shown above.
ZTE Axon V
The ZTE Axon V, on the other hand, packs a completely different design. The Axon V comes with a 6.8” FullView OLED display with an aspect ratio of 21:9. But the catch is, the front cameras are mounted on a protruding side notch on the right of the screen.
This peculiar design, which provides an ample amount of space for camera placement, meant that the Axon V can hold a 3D camera on the front. There are two sensors organised vertically in front and two rear-facing cameras that are also placed vertically at the back. According to ZTE, they said that the additional space available due to the camera placement would be occupied by a larger battery.
Both handsets may resemble creativity and uniqueness, but how practical would it be? For the Axon S, there is no guarantee that the sliding mechanism won’t break, sliding your phone sideways would mean that you’ll have to hold your phone in an awkward way when taking selfies, especially if you’re holding your phone with one hand. Aside from that, how would the protective case for this phone look like?
As for the Axon V, I wouldn’t say that the side bump would be convenient, especially when you are used to putting your phone in your pocket. For me, I would much rather have a phone which looks symmetrical on both sides without a lump on it.
For now, we have no information on the pricing nor the date of release for both devices. However, Notebook Italia claims that the Axon V will be launched in 2019.
