It seems smartphone manufacturers are running out of ways to swindle phone addicts of their hard earned cash, as the only improvements they are interested in making in smartphones is to increase the number of cameras. Today it is strange for any human to walk around with a single camera smartphone, as the standard has evolved to dual rear camera shooters and a third camera at the front. Huawei wanted to be different so it introduced three rear cameras on the Huawei P20 Pro, a standard that LG wants to maintain but by adding one more front facing camera so that the LG G40 can rock 5 cameras on a single smartphone.
It is not very clear why LG would want to have two front facing cameras on LG G40, but one speculation is that they want a camera system capable of constructing 3D renditions of a human face that can be used to securely unlock the device. If this is true, then LG hasn’t taken time to review all the negative user feedback iPhone X users have given on FaceID. Remarkably, Antonio Villas-Boas of Business Insider wrote that if it were not for the fact that he wasn’t the one who bought himself the iPhone X that he owns, he could have returned the gadget due to its failing FaceID feature. “I’ve never had to unlock an iPhone with my PIN code as often as I have with the iPhone X, despite Apple’s fancy Face ID feature. As a result, it has been a pretty frustrating experience, and I can’t wait to switch my SIM card back to my iPhone 6s Plus or the office Pixel 2 XL review unit, which I’ve been hoarding because it’s such a good phone”, he wrote.
And I have asked, twice, what is the need of all these extra cameras on smartphones? Who actually needs them?
The purpose of cameras on a smartphone should be simple: to allow us record simple memorable moments either in still or motion images for memories’ sake. We really do not need professional type of images captured by our simple phones, and this is not because it would be a bad idea, but because those professional images we would love to capture on small things like a smartphone just can’t be captured. That’s why there are dedicated gadgets in the name of professional cameras that should be let to handle professional image captures.
But smartphone manufacturers just want to be seen as innovating and improving the flagship devices. In a few months/years we may be treated to a flagship smartphone whose total rear area is nothing but lenses – then the manufacturer will turn around and charge us an arm and a leg for an all camera smartphone.
An argument has been put forward that smartphones have somehow satisfied their core objectives by ensuring flagship smartphones come with the best possible technologies for calls, Internet access, gaming, and viewing. Thus, it is time for smartphones to try and better the features such as those of photography that are still lagging behind. By I disagree.
I think the phone manufacturers ought to concentrate their research on finding ways we can now discard the physical smartphones altogether, so they start bring up products that will make us experience the smartphone world without us having to carry around devices on our hands or pockets. Samsung for example had started working on a smart contact lens that would theoretically project images directly to the retina, thereby eliminating the need of a screen.
