Your Next Phone May Have a Hole in the Screen

Here’s how the new smartphone tech works

Every year, some new smartphone trend rolls around that spawns an army of copycats. Displays that stretched to the edges of a device but still had giant notches defined 2017. Glass-backed phones, wireless charging (sort of), and even more notches landed in 2018.

Now, in 2019, we’re getting a hole.

The “hole-punch” selfie camera has started appearing on a bunch of phones. It’s an alternative to the iconic notch Apple introduced with the iPhone X. Instead of that chunk taken out of the top of the display, these new devices feature a smaller, more elegant circular cutout off to the side.

Honor just introduced the market to the first of these new phones, the View20. Samsung, Huawei, and a number of other manufacturers are planning their own. Leaked images of the Galaxy S10 indicate that its own camera hole-punch will be heavily touted when it launches, with a dedicated (and slightly hilarious) Infinity-O brand to mark the new feature.

Not only does that hole-punch camera look more aesthetically pleasing than a big notch, but it’s more functional, too. It allows for extra screen real estate, delivering a more seamless display.