Nubia X delivers an extra display on the back designed for selfies, likely not coming to US

Ben Schoon | Oct 31 2018 - 7:53 am PT

With consumers demanding phones with smaller and smaller bezels, OEMs have been trying to come up with creative solutions to cram as much screen as possible into a phone. Now, Chinese-brand Nubia is delivering its take on that with the new Nubia X and its dual-display design.

The Nubia X solves the notch debacle by simply ignoring the main reason it exists in the first place, the front-facing camera. This device has slim top and bottom bezels and no notch, but also lacks a front-facing camera entirely. It still has an earpiece and standard sensors up top, but it uses the rear camera to shoot selfies.

To enable that, Nubia has slapped a second display on the back of the X (via Engadget, Nubia). That 720p OLED panel is hidden beneath the glass and is actually fully functional as a display for the phone. But its primary purpose is to display the camera viewfinder so that users can use that rear camera for taking selfies. The camera setup itself here is a dual-camera 16MP+24MP pair.

The rear display on the Nubia X can also be used to display a custom wallpaper on the rear of the phone. It can also be used as a touch panel with select games. You can check out the functionality in the video below.

This is the Nubia X, a dual-screen phone with a very high screen ratio.
Source: Weibo 字幕 GOUBA pic.twitter.com/L2So4FdzNU

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) October 31, 2018

As for the rest of the specs, you’ll find a 6.26-inch FHD+ display on the front, Snapdragon 845, up to 8GB RAM/256GB storage, 3,800 mAh battery, and Android 8.1 Oreo.

The Nubia X is certainly a very unique device, but it’s unclear if we’ll ever see it anywhere outside of China. There, the phone will go on sale for 3,299 yuan ($470~) for 6GB/64GB. Another option is available for 4,299 yuan ($620~) that offers 8GB/256GB and a transparent “blue light glass filter” design.