Here Are All The Notched Android Phones Of MWC 2018 To Rival iPhone X

To notch or not to notch, that is the question. When the Essential Phone was released during the summer of 2017, many people took notice of the tiny notch that was carved from the top of the display to accommodate the selfie camera. The design allowed for a rather expansive display area while maintaining relatively small bezels. Apple took that "notched" display design trend to the extreme with the iPhone X with a rather large area reserved for the front-facing camera, earpiece, ambient light sensor and hardware necessary for Face ID authentication.

Although the iPhone X was revealed just a few months ago, the copying machines have already started firing up, as a number of manufacturers have launched new smartphones at the Mobile World Congress that look strikingly similar. Here are a few of the smartphones that we've noticed over the past few days that take design "inspiration" from the iPhone X.

ASUS ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z

This one actually took us by surprise. ASUS is well-established brand in the PC hardware business and is relatively well known (at least to enthusiasts) when it comes to smartphones. The fact that such a high-profile company would shamelessly copy the iPhone X, and even brag about it was quite surprising to say the least.

From the front, the ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z are dead ringers for the iPhone X, and even take inspiration from the iPhone X with regards to the placement of the rear cameras in a vertically-oriented, pill-shaped pod. "Some people will say it’s copying Apple,” said ASUS Global Marketing Chief Marcel Campos. "But we cannot get away from what users want. You have to follow the trends.”

We're not so sure that users actually "want" a big chunk of their display removed to accommodate a bevy of sensors, but that's the story that ASUS is sticking to.

At least ASUS is bringing some serious firepower to this fight courtesy of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, and a 6.2-inch (2246 x 1080) LCD on the flagship ZenFone 5Z.

Oukitel U18

The Oukitel U18 also takes some liberties with the iPhone X design paradigm, with a notched display to accommodate a front-facing cameras, speaker, and ambient light sensor. Unlike the ZenFone 5 family, the Oukitel U18 is on the lower-end of the performance spectrum thanks to its octa-core MediaTek MT6750T processor and 4GB of RAM.

While the smartphone has a generous 5.8-inch 21:9 aspect ratio display, its resolution is a lackluster 1512 x 720. 16MP and 5MP Sony cameras adorn the rear of the phone, while a 13MP Omnivision camera is found up front. One saving grace for the phone is that it has a rather capacious 4,000 mAh battery.

Leagoo S9

This phone is being billed as the "World's First Android Notch Display Smartphone". We're not so sure if "first" is the correct word here, or if it's even something to be bragging about. Regardless of its proclamations, the Leagoo S9 is another budget-minded copycat with a 1.5GHz octa-core SoC, 4GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage, 13MP + 2MP rear cameras, 8MP front-facing camera and a 3,300 mAh battery.

There are also numerous other newcomers from Chinese OEMs like the Wiko View 2 Pro, Vernee M7 and the Ulefone T2 Pro. We won't get into specifics about these phones, but it's pretty much more of the same.

Rumored Upcoming "Notched" Android Smartphones

While we can't say for certain if these photos are completely legit, it looks as though the OnePlus 6 will also embrace the notch. The smartphone is said to incorporate a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, at least 64GB of internal storage, and will support wireless charging (a first for the brand). The smartphone is also shown running Android 8.0 Oreo.

Finally, we have the Huawei P20. This photo comes to us courtesy of incredibly reliable gadget leaker Evan Blass. The Android Oreo-based smartphone features a small notch up front and interestingly enough, a fingerprint reader integrated into the home button.

Incorporating a notch while retaining the front-mounted fingerprint sensor seems to defy logic, but logic seems to be missing from a lot of these devices.

With that being said, Google is making sure that this fresh batch of notched smartphones will be fully prepared to adapt to apps with the incoming Android P operating system.