Even the best under-display cameras are garbage, here’s the proof

ZTE was the first major brand to release a smartphone with an under-display selfie camera with the Axon 20 5G back in 2020. We thought results from this first-generation effort left a lot to be desired, but the company has stuck with the tech nonetheless. Other brands have joined in with similar results: We didn’t think much of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3’s under-display camera, and we doubt the Galaxy Z Fold 4‘s is any better.

ZTE is now on its third generation of under-display selfie cameras with the Axon 40 Ultra, which was released globally a few months ago. Even so, we slated the selfie camera’s image quality once again — it’s clearly inferior to conventional selfie cameras on flagship smartphones. This disparity isn’t a surprise as the very technology that enables under-display selfie cameras introduces all sorts of issues.