Why did the front camera pop up from smartphones disappear?
Over the past four years, smartphone manufacturers have significantly reduced the bezels in the leading phone models they make, and this has extended even to budget phones that come these days with very thin bezels on all sides, as the presence of thin bezels means that you will get a screen. Larger, and this allows companies to design a larger screen without increasing the dimensions of the phone.
Xiaomi was the first to start this trend in 2016 with the Mi Mix phone, which came with a large screen, where the ratio of screen size to phone resolution reached more than 83%, and the company achieved this by moving the front camera to the lower edge Not at the top as usual, which led to the entire screen design being changed.
Other companies have followed this trend, as Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S9 series phones have thin frames at the top and include the front camera at the top edge, in addition to the OnePlus 6 and ZenFone 5 phones, and Google's Pixel 3 Xl phone.
But this did not last for long, as the front camera turned to a new design in the form of a bump called (waterdrop), then the design of the front cameras in smartphones changed permanently to integrate them into the same screen now, but between these trends, the direction of the front cameras appeared. That didn't last long.
Vivo has led this trend with the Vivo NEX phone, which it launched in 2018, where the company showed that it is possible to create a full-screen interface without including any front camera in it, and the phone includes a front camera that springs from the upper edge when you need to take selfies or make calls. Video, which allowed the screen to capture 91.24% of the front end of the phone.
The company (OPPO) also launched the Find X phone during 2018, but with a completely different camera system, where the camera is completely hidden while using the phone and closing the camera application, but once you open the camera application in Find X, the entire top of the phone moves and reveals 25MP front camera, 3D face scanning system, 16MP plus 20MP dual rear camera.
The pop-up front camera trend has gained momentum throughout 2019, as we got a lot of interesting smartphones as a result, such as: the Reno 10x Zoom phone, the Redmi K20 series and OnePlus 7 Pro.
But soon, this trend began to gradually disappear or be provided in very specific markets, as we find that most smartphones in 2020 and phones expected to be launched in this year 2021 contain a front camera integrated into the same screen in the middle or on one of the upper sides.
Makes us ask a very important question, which is: Why do we no longer see smartphones with front cameras that pop up as intensely as they used to be?
The main reason for the disappearance of the front cameras of smart phones is their relatively heavy weight, as the pop-up cameras in these phones have a lot of complex parts and require a motor to work, all of which adds weight and thickness to the phone.
Where we find that retractable cameras are usually larger in size, and then the final design for smartphones is slightly thicker when using these pop-up cameras compared to including cameras in other ways.
Most of the manufacturers have started designing thinner phones and this means that the user experience will be more comfortable, hence the pop-up cameras will not be a welcome option.
In addition, we find that the inclusion of such cameras means that the phone is exposed to water entering through the openings of these cameras, and then the phone will not support the water resistance feature, which is necessary for these companies to market their smartphones.
However, if you are still enthusiastic about using a smartphone that comes with a full screen design, and at the same time you want a professional front camera, we can tell you that there is a new trend that has begun to appear with regard to the front cameras, namely: the under-screen cameras.
This trend has started making its way for smartphones since the previous year, as leading companies such as Xiaomi are working to include this technology in their upcoming phones, but it may take a few years before this trend is prevalent in most other smartphones.