Cameras in the modern day smartphones have become one of the main components of a phone and many companies use this as an USP to sell their phones. But, in order to enhance the camera quality, smartphone need better camera hardware and optics. In many cases, companies compromise with the design to provide a protrusion or a bump for camera.
Are powerful cameras spoiling the design and aesthetics of the phone?
Recent flagship smartphones like iPhone 7 Plus or the LG G5 have come up with dual camera setup which is supposed to give better depth of field and hence a good quality images. But, as we have seen, these phones have a bump on the back for the camera setup, which somehow looks odd.
The weird looking camera bump also poses some difficulty while we try to place the mobile flat on a table and this might also make us to use a case to protect the extruded camera. But Huawei have come with a solution for this in their new phone that is Huawei P9.
A lot of us have no issues with the camera bump, instead it gives an identity to some phones. But if we consider the ratios, more users prefer a flat design.
With the competition getting tougher after every flagship launch, it has become very difficult to fit such high end lenses in a small form factor. As a tech enthusiast, I love great cameras on smartphones and so does everyone who spends good amount of cash for their phones. But the other aspect says that we love slim phones, as a result companies are experimenting with the camera technology on smartphones.
How does the Huawei P9 manage to boast of a slim body despite the dual camera setup?
The new Huawei P9 comes with a dual camera setup and surprisingly it does not have a camera bump unlike other phones with dual camera. This phone’s camera has been specially designed by Huawei with Leica’s assistance.
Out of the two cameras, one of the sensors captures image in RGB whereas the other captures in monochrome or in black and white. And the merging algorithm in the phone merges these two images to give you a brilliant image. The RGB sensor provides the colours for the photo whereas the monochrome sensor gives the details. It is also important to note that the monochrome sensor absorbs 300 % more light and hence creates much brighter images. This would be helpful under poor lighting conditions. This all is possible because of Huawei P9’s IMAGEsmart 5.0 technology.
Design
The design of the smartphone is brilliant. It comes with aerospace grade unibody aluminium and 2.5 D glass. The phone has been diamond cut and also has some good curvatures. Though it sports a dual camera setup like an iPhone 7 plus or the LG G5, only Huawei has managed to fit the camera setup in such an optimum place and we must appreciate that. Finally, it’s a superbly designed phone and a good build quality.
If compared to iPhone 7 and LG G5, this one is more handy and feels very comfortable to hold. It also offers you a great grip when clikcing pictures using the phone.
The most sought after features in a flagship mobile phones would be the build quality, design, performance and camera. Huawei P9 checks all the boxes in the list. We must wait to see how other companies come up with phones without the camera bump.