The Nubia X is the latest flagship on the block and it ditches the front-facing camera

In a month that has seen a number of high-profile smartphone launches like the tri-rear camera LG V40, software-packed Google Pixel 3, and the sliding Mi Mix 3, it’s almost amusing that the most innovative of the lot is released by a little-known company. Nubia’s new Nubia X flagship manages to snatch that crown, and does so with style.

The Nubia X sports a 6.26-inch OLED FHD+ display. That isn’t particularly impressive, but something appears to be missing from the device’s front end; namely, a selfie camera. The Nubia X solves the problem of where to keep the selfie camera...by ditching it entirely. 

The solution? Place a display at the back of the device. 

That doesn’t sound as smart as the guys at Nubia may have thought, as it raises the question of how exactly the Nubia X is to be used. With a case? Sounds awfully inconvenient when using the rear display. Without a case? That just means the rear display gets to see quite the abuse since phones are generally laid on their backs, pun unintended. 

We guess having a 93.6%—according to Nubia anyway—screen-to-body ratio was just that important.

Front-facing camera and display shenanigans aside, the Nubia X is powered by a Snapdragon 845. It features 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. There’s a 16 MP + 24 MP dual camera setup on the device’s back, which is impressive. Those not-selfies may just be the best in the market. Because of the display on the Nubia X’s rear, its fingerprint sensor is relegated to its sides. And yes, there are two of them—one on each side.

The Nubia X is powered by a 3800 mAh battery, with Nubia’s own NeoCharge fast-charging technology keeping things efficient. A headphone jack is missing, but that’s about par for Nubia flagships these days anyway.