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Lenovo Z5 is an all-screen phone with no notch or bezels

Lenovo VP Chang Cheng shared a teaser for the Lenovo Z5 on Weibo.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
2 min read
lenovo-z5-weibo-teaser

A Lenovo exec shared this sketch of the Lenovo Z5.

Chang Cheng/Weibo

Update, June 5: The Lenovo Z5 has been officially announced -- and it has a notch after all.

Notches, it seems, are the new black. Originally seen -- and often criticized -- on the Essential PH-1 and iPhone X in 2017, the trend of adding notches to Android phones has only accelerated this year as phone makers look to maximize the screen size. But the Lenovo Z5 is going the other way: It's truly all-screen, and notch-free.

At least, that's according to a sketch shared last Friday by Lenovo VP Chang Cheng on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform in China. Cheng's teaser post says (according to Google Translate) that the Lenovo Z5 is the company's new flagship phone. Besides that, the post leaves it pretty vague. 

We don't know if the Lenovo Z5 is in production now, or merely a concept. Lenovo did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment. 

No escaping the notch: 15 phones with screen notches

See all photos

All-screen phones look cool, but they challenge the manufacturer to find a place to put front cameras, sensors and other hardware. That's why we see bezels on some phones and notches on others. It's not clear what Lenovo plans to do with the front camera on the Lenovo Z5. Cheng's post claims that "four technological breakthroughs" and "18 patented technologies" were made for the phone, but doesn't go into details.

Cheng previously shared a different teaser for the Lenovo Z5, and claimed that it had a 95 percent screen-to-body ratio. Take a look at the teaser below.

lenovo-z5-weibo-teaser-2

This render of the Lenovo Z5 doesn't show us the whole picture.

Lenovo

Originally published May 11 at 9:28 a.m. PT.
Update, May 14: Added context.