First it was the notch,
now the hole-punch has emerged as the latest tech for concealing selfie
cameras whilst keeping our smartphones as free of bezel as possible to
maximize the screen spac
This week, Samsung and Huawei both unveiled new phones that dispense with the iconic 'notch' -- pioneered by Apple but popularized by everyone -- in favor of positioning in the camera in a small "Infinity-O" hole located on the top left side of the screen.
Dubbed hole-punch, the approach is part of Samsung’s new Galaxy A8s and Huawei's View 20, which were unveiled hours apart on Tuesday. Huawei was first by just hours, although Samsung has been pretty public
with its intention to explore a number notch alternatives including the
hole-punch, which makes sense given that it has persistently mocked
Apple for the feature.
Don't expect to see any hole-punches just yet though.
The
Samsung A8s is just for China right now while the View 20 isn't being
fully unveiled until December 26 in China and, for global
audiences, January 22 in Paris. We also don't have a price for either,
but they do represent a new trend that could become widely-adopted
across phones from other OEMs in 2019.
That's certainly Samsung's
plan. The Korea firm is rolling the hole-punch out on the A8s, but it
has plans to expand its adoption into other devices and series. The A8s
itself is pretty mid-range, but that makes it an ideal candidate to test
the potential appeal of a more subtle selfie camera since Samsung's
market share has fallen in China where local rivals have pushed it
hard. It starts there, but it could yet be adopted in higher-end devices
with global availability.
As the View 20, Huawei has also been
pretty global with its ambitions, except in the U.S. where it hasn't
managed to strike a carrier deal despite reports that it has been close
before. The current crisis with its CFO -- the daughter of the company's
founder who was arrested during a trip to Canada -- is another stark
reminder that Huawei's business is unlikely to ever get a break in the
U.S. market: so except the View 20 to be a model for Europe and Asia.
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Samsung
hasn't said a tonne about the hole-punch design, but our sister
publication Engadget -- which attended the View 20's early launch event
in Hong Kong -- said it was mounted below the display "like a diamond"
to maintain the structure.
"This hole is not a traditional hole," Huawei told Engadget.
Huawei will no doubt also talk up the fact that its hole is 4.5mm versus an apparent 6mm from Samsung.
Small details aside, one important upcoming trend from these new devices is the birth of the 'mega' megapixel smartphone camera.
The View 20 packs a whopping 48-megapixel lens for a rear camera which something that we're going to see a lot more of in 2019. Xiaomi, for one, is preparing a January launch for a device that'll have the 48-megapixels, according to a message on Sina Weibo from company co-founder Bin Lin. There's no word on what camera enclosure that device will have, though.
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