Over the weekend, Chinese phone maker Lenovo teased an upcoming smartphone that eschews the ubiquitous iPhone X notch in favour of a design that’s nothing but screen and an ultra-thin bezel.
The company’s vice president, Chang Cheng, took to Weibo with a sketch of the upcoming Lenovo Z5. Reporting on the post, CNet says that the device will have a screen-to-body ratio of 95%, as well as “four technological breakthroughs” and “18 patented technologies”. Exactly what these will be remains to be seen, especially in regards to how the phone negotiates the placement of its front-facing camera sensors – the reason for the iPhone X’s notch.
Cheng has previously shared a partial render of the Lenovo Z5, showing a corner of the device with its ultra-thin bezels and seemingly notchless design.
(Credit: Chang Cheng/Weibo)
Can this translate to reality? One possible solution may be found in Vivo’s Apex concept phone, which similarly pitches itself as notchless, all-screen handset. In the Apex, the selfie camera pops up from the top of the phone. It also has a fingerprint sensor beneath the display, although there’s still a thicker bezel along the bottom of the device to hide the OLED’s display controller.
Lenovo could use a win. Its $2.91 billion buyup of Motorola Mobility from Google has been an albatross around the company’s neck, and it is being overtaken domestically by Chinese rivals including Huawei and Vivo. An innovative smartphone could do wonders for the company, and the Z5 certainly looks like it wants to grab attention. Time will tell whether it manages to live up to its notchless tease.
We’ll know more when the Lenovo Z5 is officially launched. It’s not clear when that will be, and at what stage of development the handset is currently, but watch this space for more information.
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