Late last month we saw the first glimpse of a real phone with a "hole-punch' front camera (i.e. a camera cutout entirely surrounded by screen) in the form of the Huawei Nova 4, and now we're learning that sub-brand Honor is about to release the View20. As well as the new screen design, it's one of the first smartphones to include a 48-megapixel rear camera.

The View20 was announced in Hong Kong, where it's called simply the V20, but details are a little thin on the ground at the moment. We do know that it features a 4.5mm hole in the display for the front-facing camera, with minimal bezel on top but a slightly noticeable chin.

We've been expecting 48-megapixel cameras since separate announcements from Samsung and Sony, and Honor has said its using a sensor made by the latter, namely the IMX586 CMOS with its 0.8μm pixels. According to Engadget, the crowning camera feature is a 48MP AI HDR mode — expect some pretty photos from this thing. The View20 will also make use of Huawei's Kirin 980 chip so even if it's a mid-ranger in price, performance should be up there with the best.

Another feature Honor presented with the phone is Link Turbo which allows for simultaneous downloading using WiFi and 4G, as well as seamless switching for the best connection at all times. The View20 was only officially teased at today's Hong Kong event, with a proper launch said to take place in Beijing on December 26th ahead of a European event in Paris towards the end of January.

UPDATE: 2018/12/26 1:56pm PST BY CORBIN DAVENPORT

Following today's launch event in China, more details about the phone are available from Honor's Chinese website. It's available in three configurations — 6GB RAM with 128GB of storage, 8GB RAM with 128GB storage, and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage (the MOSCHINO Joint Edition).

All three variants have a Kirin 980 processor, a 6.4-inch 1080x2310 IPS LCD screen, a 4,000mAh battery, a USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack. An international release is expected next month.

Source: Engadget, Weibo