Sony: Smartphones to get dual-lens cameras starting next year
February 20, 2016 • News • Sony
Dual-lens cameras are expected to raise the bar in terms of smartphone photography but their arrival is not as soon as we have hoped. This information was revealed during the most recent earnings call of Sony.
According to Sony CFO Kenichiro Yoshida, “major smartphone players” will use Sony dual-lens in their devices by next year. However, Yoshida predicted that the “real start, the takeoff of smartphones with dual-lens cameras will be in the year of 2017” because of the slow down among high-end smartphones.
But if you read between the lines, there is the probability that smartphones will begin adopting dual-lens this 2016. Although Yoshida believes that the “takeoff” could happen in 2017 when high-end smartphone manufacturers begin adopting dual-lens cameras, we can’t rule out the possibility of that happening this year.
A smartphone with dual-lens camera is not something new. The most recent device to feature that is the One M8 from HTC – although its implementation was more of a gimmick. With smartphones adopting dual-lens cameras, smartphone photography is expected to rival the image quality of DSLR cameras. A dual-lens camera can significantly improve image quality by using one lens for brightness and the other for colour information.
Apple on the other hand, which is expected to release the iPhone 7 this fall, is rumoured to offer a “premium” version of the iPhone 7 Plus where the said handset will feature a dual-lens camera. This rumour was fueled by the fact that Apple recently acquired Linx Computational Imaging, a company whose specialization happens to be the use of multiple sensors to capture 2D and 3D images. Some reports even intimate that Apple is already in the process of testing dual-lens samples from various manufacturers.
There is also LG which is expected to unveil the G5 later this month. The said LG flagship is rumored to come with two lenses, one for the subject and one for the background.
Samsung is also at the center of some rumors but the Galaxy S7, its upcoming flagship, is highly unlikely to come with a dual-lens shooter – if we believe the rumors and leaks about the handset. The Korean manufacturer, however, will possibly come up with a dual-lens smartphone later this year.
Of course, Sony can’t be taken out of the equation, which will likely make use of its own dual-lens sensor for its flagship Xperia smartphone at some point.
Again, 2017 may be the breakout year when dual-lens cameras will be implemented among smartphones but we are still hoping that the party will get started this 2016.