94 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 72
back? No thanks. Much like the pop-up selfies and flip
cameras, adding an extra layer between you and your
subject increases the likelihood that you might miss a
shot. Or that something breaks. The extra millimetre
of screen or thinness just doesn’t matter.
But even if said camera gimmicks worked as
advertised for as long as you owned the phone,
none of them give us the ability to take better
pictures. Granted, whenever OnePlus, LG or Samsung
launches a phone, the camera is appreciatively better
than the previous model, but they’re still struggling
to catch up to the leaders. I can’t help but think if
these companies focused on the actual camera
rather than a marketable or buzzy-worthy gimmick,
we’d all be better off.
Innovations not gimmicks
Just take a look at the handsets released last year by
Apple and Google. The specs are so-so compared
to those of their peers, and the arrays are downright
unsightly. But no one cares, because they take better
pictures than any other smartphone around.
That’s because both companies focus on picture-
taking rather than unnecessary gimmicks. Both
companies added a new lens and obviously touted
that, but the new cameras weren’t high-megapixel lip
service. The zoom lens on the Pixel and ultra-wide
one on the iPhone brought a measurable increase
in the type and quality of pictures and were just as
marketable as OnePlus’s disappearing camera. Apple
advertises a “pro camera system”, while Google
promises “studio-like photos without the studio”.
