ZTE’s next phone could be a dual-screened monster

ZTE has sent out invitations for an upcoming October 17 event in New York City where it will unveil the next member of the Axon family of smartphones.

Branching off from the excellent ZTE Axon 7, where could it go next? It’s possible that it could release another value-focused, feature-packed flagship.

As we saw last year, ZTE has gotten very good at making those. But a recent leak spotted by VentureBeat points to a much stranger and potentially more interesting announcement: a dual-screen phone supposedly called ZTE Axon Multy.

If the leak is to be believed, the Multy will fold out into a 6.8-inch phone with its two screens aligned vertically, looking much like a small pad of paper. It will reportedly run on the last-gen Snapdragon 820, pushing a modest 1080p resolution to each display.

Other important specs to note are its rumored 4GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage and a 3,120mAh battery – a relatively low capacity even for powering just one screen.

Let's dissect the invite

The event invite teases a large letter “M” that’s split into two. Each side is doing something different, perhaps to indicate that the multi-screened phone is indeed coming.

Given that the Multy is rumored to come with Snapdragon 820, it’s also likely that it will come with last year’s Android Nougat operating system, too, not the latest Android Oreo. In this case, split-window multitasking was introduced in that software and the Multy could take that to a whole new level with its two screens.

This new ZTE device is said to be launching as an AT&T exclusive in the US for $650, and while early signs don’t bode well for a global release, only time and the early success of this potentially innovative product will tell if that will ever happen.