The ZTE Axon 30’s under-display camera means its screen is notchless and punch-hole free, but you aren’t missing much if your phone doesn’t have it yet.
Every year, a new iPhone is revealed and inevitably met with the same first criticism: the unsightly notch is still there. Android phones, for their part, still have punch-holes in their displays. But now that I’ve had time with the ZTE Axon 30, a phone with an under-display camera and a clean display, I can confidently say: all that notch hate is pretty overblown. It’s certainly better to have a display without a notch or punch-hole – it’s aesthetically pleasing to have a screen unmarked by a camera-containing hole or strip. It’s easy math: more screen area means more screen to watch movies and play games. But you’re actually not missing much by missing out on the full-screen experience, not enough to really envy anyone. Why? Because that chunk of screen is pretty much dead real estate anyway. This isn’t a knock on the ZTE Axon 30, either – the under-display camera is pretty much invisible (you can barely see an off-color square above the camera if you angle the phone to catch outside light just right). But that small patch of screen on the far left side just isn’t used or noticeable most of the time. In fact, I’d go so far as to argue that, like me, you probably wouldn’t notice if the notch or punch-hole was gone. Not just because we’ve trained ourselves to ignore these gaps in our phone media consumption, but because modern media just isn’t made with the extreme sides in mind. Next time you watch a movie or TV show, whether on your phone or a theater-size screen, see how often you’re paying attention to the leftmost and rightmost sides. If you’re humoring me, you’ll probably give it a strong few minutes before your attention is inadvertently drawn toward the center.
