For the past year or two device makers have been trying to find ways to reduce the size of smartphone bezels and increase the screen-to-body ratio. That’s given rise to phones with notches and slide-out cameras.

But Nubia’s new phone wins the prize for the most unusual solution.

As expected, the Nubia X doesn’t need a notch to house the front-facing camera because the phone doesn’t have a front-facing camera. Instead you can use the dual cameras on the back of the phone to snap selfies or make video calls.

Wondering how you’ll line up your shots? By using a second screen… on the back of the phone.

Most smartphones have cameras on the front and back. The Nubia X doesn’t. Instead it has screens on the front and back.

The move makes a certain kind of sense — why settle for an inferior camera crammed into the front of the phone when you could use the same camera you use for all your other shots? And folks who don’t take a lot of selfies don’t have to sacrifice screen space for a camera they rarely use anyway.

The rear camera system consists of a 16MP f/18 primary camera and a 24MP f/1.7 secondary camera. It supports HDR photography, dual pixel phase detection autofocus, dual tone LED flash, and 240 frames-per-second slow-motion video.

Meanwhile, the display on the back of the phone can come in handy even when you’re not using the camera. It can show a clock, a message, or other graphics, allowing you to customize the look of the phone.

Of course this second screen is going to make it hard to get the most out of the phone if you put it in an opaque case. I imagine you could use a bumper case or a clear case — but that would probably obstruct one of the phone’s other key features: it has two fingerprint sensors — one on the left side of the phone and the other on the right. Pressing one will unlock the front screen and the other unlocks the back.

So really this phone seems like it’s designed for folks that don’t put their phones in a case.

Fortunately it’s not too expensive — prices start at about $475 in China for a model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

There are also 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB variants for about $530 and $600, respectively.

The phone goes up for pre-order in China today and ships November 5th.

Here’s a run-down of the phone’s specs:

  • 6.26 inch, 2280 x 1080 pixel front display
  • 5.1 inch, 1520 x 720 pixel OLED display on the back.
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
  • UFS 2.1 storage
  • 16MP +24MP cameras
  • 3,8000 mAh battery with 18W fast charging support
  • 802.11ac WiFi
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • USB Type-C
  • Android 8.1

There’s no microSD card reader or headphone jack.

via GizmoChina and GSM Arena

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7 replies on “Nubia X is has no front camera (and a second screen on the back)”

  1. Cool, cant wait to see what it really looks like in a review, these chinese companies love photoshopping the shit out of their products, the real version NEVER looks the same as their promo pics.

  2. Finally someone makes a phone without front facing camera.
    Too bad I’m not looking to change my phone.

  3. This is cool.

    The concerns about durability stand, but this is cool. And those concerns will be somewhat offset by the surprisingly low price. You can get two of these for the price of a flagship, so if you break one you can just get another one.

  4. The case issue is a non-issue. Case manufactures make cut-outs now for fingerprint sensors, cameras, flashes, etc. This small screen will get the same treatment. Not sure why this has become such a problem anyway. My very old Canon pocket camera solved this issue over ten years ago. They put a small mirror, shaped and curved just right, to show you what will be in frame when you point the camera at yourself. It still works remarkably well and uses no battery power and is not prone to breakage.
    Fill in your own generic rant about no microSD card slot and no headphone jack.

    1. The rear screen is around a standard ~4.5in display. So it’s not that small, and that’s a good thing.

      But still, this device will have questionable quality, and compromises to the durability.

      I think Honor 7i’s form-factor is a better solution!!

  5. Its a creative idea for sure. Although I think the screen on the back wouldn’t have to be all that large to help with battery life. Just have the second screen activate when taking selfies and/or show notifications as well rather than giving it full functionality as shown in the first video.

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