This smartphone maker put a selfie camera where no other phone maker has put one before

• Chinese smartphone maker ZTE's upcoming smartphone has a selfie camera that sticks out from the main body of the phone.
• It's a novel design solution to avoid using the divisive notch that was popularized by Apple's iPhone X and adopted by numerous other Android phone makers.
• Moving the selfie camera outside the main body of the phone has a few benefits, like allowing more space for a larger battery, and allowing for a full-screen display without interruptions from a notch.
• It does, however, look unusual.

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE is putting the selfie camera on its upcoming Axon V smartphone where no smartphone maker has put one before: outside the main body of the phone.

The ZTE Axon V hasn't been announced yet, but its unique design was posted on the iF Design World Guide website - an organization that presents awards for design. It's unclear whether the iF Design World Guide organization is awarding ZTE with an award. Business Insider has asked the organization for confirmation, but hasn't heard back.

iF World Design Guide

According to iF Design World Guide, the ZTE Axon V's protruding selfie camera allows for a full display without interruptions from the notch-style solution used by Apple and numerous other Android phone makers, or the hole-punch design now used by Samsung. It also mentions advantages like leaving more space for a bigger battery.

The iPhone XS has the notch, the Galaxy S10 has the hole-punch display, but we're still not sure what to call the protruding selfie camera on the ZTE Axon V. So far, the Business Insider tech desk has come up with the "tag" and the "fin."

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Either way, ZTE's protruding camera design is the latest in the lineup of novel ideas to avoid the divisive notch that was popularized by the iPhone X.

ZTE apparently has another smartphone design in the works that avoids the divisive notch: the Axon S, where the phone slides horizontally to reveal the selfie cam and main rear cameras. That phone was also featured on the iF Design World Guide website.