Weekly poll: rear vs. selfie camera, which is more important?

This week we saw the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G claim the title of "Best selfie camera", at least according to DxOMark. The phone's rear camera matched the score of the Huawei P30 Pro, which previously ruled alone. This along with the results from last week's poll got us wondering about front and rear cameras - which one is more important to you?

We're well past the era when phones had only one camera (and it was on the back), yet for one reason or another the rear camera is still treated as more important and gets the better hardware.

There are exceptions, for example, the Realme U1, has a 25MP selfie and 13+2MP rear cameras. The Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra has a selfie camera with OIS, which is almost unheard of (the rear cam didn't't have optical stabilization). And more recently, the Samsung Galaxy A80 uses the same camera for both selfies and regular photos thanks to the rotating pop-up mechanism, enabling the first-ever 48MP selfies.

Realme U1 • Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra • Samsung Galaxy A80 • Samsung Galaxy S10 5G

You can probably come up with more examples, but there's no denying that there are many more impressive rear cameras than selfie cameras. Whether it's having 2-3-4-5 modules, periscope tele lenses, ToF sensors or just plain larger sensors, the rear camera almost always has the better hardware.

Samsung said that the Galaxy A80 is built for the "Era of Live" and talked about how it can shoot selfie videos, not just photos. But is that missing the point? Do people really want to star in their own photos or are they content staying behind the camera?

This goes beyond vanity, because as we've discussed many times before, the selfie camera is the bane of the smartphone designer - notches, punch holes, pop-ups, all sort of crazy designs just so the phone can have a selfie camera.

So, if only a few people use it, maybe there's room for seflie-less phones. If the opposite is true and most people take selfies, then it's time for some better hardware.

Comments

Top 10 trending phones of week 24

At a time when the number 1 and 2 remain the same as last week, a new number 3 is still exciting news. That would be the Samsung Galaxy J6, climbing two spots to join the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Mi 8 on the podium. The OnePlus 6 seems to be bolted in fourth - that's its third week in there after claiming the top spot 4 weeks ago and quickly slipping into second the following one. The biggest gainer this week has to be the Redmi S2 (a.k.a. Redmi Y2) - entering the chart last week in 9th, it's now all the way up in 5th. The Galaxy A6+ (2018) is the second Samsung to climb two spots and we now find it in 6th, nudging the Nokia X6 into 7th. The Redmi Note 5 returns to the Top 10 in 8th spot after being absent for a couple of weeks, and long-time champion from a while back Galaxy J7 Prime makes a surprise appearance in 10th. In between them, we find the Oppo F7, cautiously advancing one spot ahead of its tenth last week. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro RANK: 1 WA...

Flipkart, Amazon hit as govt tightens e-commerce norms

The revised e-commerce norms come in the backdrop of several complaints by traders on deep discounts offered by Flipkart and Amazon The government has prohibited e-commerce companies from entering into exclusive deals for products. Tightening e-commerce norms for online retail firms, such as Flipkart and Amazon, the government on Wednesday took a host of steps and barred them from selling products of the companies in which they have stakes. The commerce and industry ministry also prohibited e-commerce companies from entering into exclusive deals for products. “An entity having equity participation by e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies, or having control on its inventory by e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies, will not be permitted to sell its products on the platform run by such marketplace entity,” the ministry said. Besides, the revised policy on FDI in e-commerce said that services should be provided by e-commerce marketplace entity o...

Scarlett Johansson is Forbes’ highest paid actress, Deepika Padukone falls off list

Scarlett Johansson has topped Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s highest paid actresses’ 2018 list. Johansson made over $40 million (Rs 280 crore) and starred in three films between June 2017 and June 2018 - a voice role in Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs , the R-rated comedy Rough Night and as Black Widow in Avengers: Infinity War . Johansson starred in the box office bomb Ghost in the Shell in March, 2017. There is no Indian on the list with Deepika Padukone falling off the list too. She toppled Emma Stone off the number one spot on the list, quadrupling her 2017 earnings. Her being a part of the record-breaking third Avengers film, and the upcoming Avengers 4 is the biggest contributor to her rise up the ranks. “The percent of budget cost have certainly skewed heavy, particularly on the Avengers movies, to cast now, whereas maybe in the early ones it was more visual effects or below the line,” the Forbes report quotes Kevin Feige, Marv...

Look in

Search This Blog