By Blaine Kelton
Thanks to the influx of (and focus on) photo- and video-sharing apps, smartphone cameras have become more important than ever to consumers. As a result, it’s typically a pretty big deal on the tech front whenever one of the bigger players in the mobile game decides to up the visual ante. Well, it looks like one of them is doing exactly that, and it comes after years of rumors about which smartphone giant would be the first to incorporate dual-pixel cameras into a device.
BGR pointed out that Apple was gearing up to use the technology in its upcoming iPhone 7 Plus, while Tech Times reported on leaks revealing that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 would actually be the first.
As the dates on those reports will tell you, things have clearly heated up more recently, however, especially given that one of those giants (Samsung) seemed poised to release the latest installment in their Galaxy line. And sure enough, when the official Galaxy S7 reveal arrived, it did so with while revealing one of the technically top-notch cameras ever attached to a smartphone. Verizon Wireless announced that the S7 and S7 Edge will come with the “world’s first dual-pixel smartphone camera.”
But what does that mean for you, the consumer/Instagram fiend trying to take the best photos your device can handle?
Well, for one, the dual-pixel approach provides a quicker autofocus option, which means fewer blurry photos and an overall improvement in quality for the user. The latter is also achieved through a new low-light sensor that aims to pick up on details even in the dimmest settings. Essentially, it brings the device one step closer to aiming for the professional-quality images captured by an SLR camera.
That’s especially true for those of you interested in shooting video with the Galaxy S7. At least, that’s what I’ve garnered through research of the dual-pixel implementation in Canon’s 70D DSLR. According to Imaging Resource, they found that the dual-pixel approach worked well when recording video, which bodes well for the Samsung device given that that particular Canon model was released nearly three years ago.
What’s important to remember here, beyond all the hype and big reveals, is that this is a big step for smartphones. And no, that’s not just because early adopters will be able to take better selfies or photos of their meal to share with friends, followers, and family. It means that whatever is coming next from the competition will (or, least, should) take its own step forward.
Now, chances are that step won’t be terribly big or nearly as noteworthy, but that’s ok! The goal here is to keep all parties honest and pushing themselves, leaving the consumers (and technology at large) on the winning end. And like Ivan wrote in his recent piece on Samsung leading the way in 4K, it’s only inevitable before other companies follow suit.