Are dual-camera phones a necessity or just a gimmick?

Smartphone camera technology has reached another new starting line this year, that is, dual-camera technology. From the time it first came into view and attracted much attention, it has gradually been accepted by the public. Moreover, last year many flagships used dual-camera technology as their main feature, and Apple's iPhone 7 Plus and Huawei P9 were quite dazzling. When many people think of dual cameras, these two models come to mind first.

However, last year, most flagship or high-end models were equipped with dual cameras, such as the LG G5. But since the end of last year, as the technology has become more mature, many mid-range models have begun to offer dual-camera technology. Now the question is, if we want to buy a mobile phone in the future, do we have to consider models with dual cameras?

Dual cameras are a big trend this year

Why do I say that? Previously, many mobile phones did not support dual cameras. The main reason was that the hardware conditions were not met, especially the processing chip and camera module. However, these two problems have been solved now. Sony's Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida said in February 2016 that the dual-lens + dual-sensor platform solution has been successfully produced. In the early stage, the production schedule was arranged more according to the needs of mobile phone manufacturers, but dual-camera mobile phones will definitely take off in 2017.

In addition to Sony, many manufacturers have also begun to provide dual-camera platform solutions, especially LG Innotek, which provides dual-camera modules for Apple iPhone 7 Plus. At the same time, Samsung Electro-Mechanics has also begun to provide dual-camera modules for some domestic manufacturers, including Xiaomi, LeTV, etc. Samsung said that it is currently negotiating with Huawei, OPPO and Vivo, hoping to increase shipments and create a win-win situation.

In terms of processors, Huawei HiSilicon's Kirin 655, a domestic chip, already supports dual ISP image signal processing technology. The Helio P25 chip released by MediaTek at the beginning of this year is equipped with the MediaTek Imagiq image signal processor (ISP). Through the 12-bit dual ISP, future machines equipped with the P25 chip can support dual camera functions. It supports up to 13 million + 13 million pixel dual cameras. At the same time, in the case of dual cameras, it also has color + black and white smart dual cameras with noise reduction functions and real-time shallow depth of field.

Now that MediaTek's dual-camera solution has been released, it means that more low-end and mid-range models may be equipped with dual-camera configurations in the future. As for Qualcomm chips, the Snapdragon 653 and 617 already support dual-camera functions, and even the lower-end Snapdragon 435 and 427 do the same. This is a big boon for the popularization of dual cameras in low-end phones, and manufacturers do not need to invest too much hardware cost to create models with dual cameras as a selling point.

The trend of dual-camera technology is unstoppable. A previous research report from Statista predicted that the sales of dual-camera smartphones will see a 400% increase in 2017, rising to about 300 million units, accounting for about 20% of the total shipments this year. This shows that it won’t be long before we will see more and more dual-camera smartphones on the market, even if we don’t deliberately choose them.

Do you think dual cameras are definitely better?

Many industry insiders believe that dual cameras will be the future development direction of smartphones. Because from the basic theory of cameras for many years, the imaging level of shooting equipment mainly depends on the size of the sensor. Due to the size limit of mobile phones, it is impossible to fit a larger sensor. Therefore, many manufacturers have begun to strengthen software and hardware. Imaging algorithms and processor technology have been continuously enhanced, and lenses are also constantly improving. The setting of dual sensors and dual lenses has become one of the most ideal solutions at present.

However, as a general mobile phone user, you must pay attention to the manufacturer's marketing rhetoric of "dual cameras are better", which is just like the propaganda point of "pixels are everything" many years ago. We can see that a large number of manufacturers have begun to tout that dual cameras can improve image quality, and there are many new ways to play and unique features in software, such as optical zoom and ultra-wide angle. In fact, "new" does not mean "excellent", and many problems still need to be solved.

At this stage, how do we measure the quality of a mobile phone's camera? Looking at the samples of the comparison is one of the best methods, but different people can take different photos even if they use the same mobile phone. At this time, we can refer to DxOMark, a very famous professional camera evaluation organization in the camera field. In recent years, the organization has never stopped evaluating smartphone cameras. Basically, all the mainstream phones on the market that claim to have good camera performance have been evaluated and ranked comprehensively.

Among the smartphones ranked by DxOMark according to the comprehensive score, Google Pixel ranked first, HTC 10, Galaxy S7 Edge and Sony Xperia X Performance tied for second. Moto Z Force Droid, Samsung S6 Edge, Sony Xperia XZ and Xperia Z5 tied for third. Then Apple iPhone 7, LG G5, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge tied for fourth.

You can see how many of these smartphones with such high camera performance have dual cameras? Most of them have a single sensor and a single lens configuration.

No qualitative change can not be a reason to buy

So as far as the entire mobile phone industry is concerned, the imaging level of dual-camera devices is still in its early stages of development. Smartphones with single large-size sensors and single large pixel sizes still have more advantages. This has been confirmed in digital SLRs. Mobile phone manufacturers are still considering the difficulty of designing additional space and balancing costs.

If we put aside the pure image quality for the moment, the biggest highlight of dual-camera phones is naturally the unique features. Huawei and Apple have been marketing the depth of field function with blurred backgrounds, while LG tells everyone that dual cameras can shoot images and videos with wider viewing angles. Although these features look good and even unique, they are not rigid requirements for most people. They can only be said to be an extension of traditional imaging methods, rather than a real leap in imaging quality.

More importantly, these dual-camera unique features, such as background blur technology, are simulated by software, which is quite different from the actual effect of adjusting the aperture of a real digital SLR. Sometimes the software-based scene blur effect even has obvious errors, which is quite inconsistent. Of course, dual sensors and software algorithms are constantly improving, and simulated illusions will naturally become better, but it is still not the biggest reason for ordinary consumers to buy dual-camera phones.

Summary: There is no best, only better

In any case, there are already quite a few users who own dual-camera phones. Although single-camera phones do not have such in-depth gameplay, the current dual-camera technology and functions have not been able to resonate with more users. This is mainly because the dual camera has not significantly improved the performance of the camera, and the imaging quality that everyone cares about has not seen a qualitative leap for the time being.

However, in the long run, we don't have to be negative about any new technology. Dual-camera technology is still in its infancy. Who can be sure that it will not be an outstanding technology in the future? Background blur, wide viewing angle, better low-light performance and optical zoom are technologies that can be seen by everyone when dual-camera is just starting out. It can be imagined that the potential of dual-camera is still huge, including AR or MR technology that many experts are talking about, such as Google's Tango project mobile phone.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.