Poll: You only want more under-display camera phones if image quality is good

There are several phones on the market with under-display selfie cameras, such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3, Xiaomi Mi Mix 4, and ZTE Axon 30. But it’s fair to say that this tech hasn’t matured just yet.

Do you want to see more phones with the technology this year though? We posed this question earlier this week, and here’s what you said.

Do you want to see more phones with under-display selfie cameras?

Results

We posted this poll in an article about Google’s latest under-display selfie camera patent, accruing just over 1,000 votes as of writing. It turns out that almost 60% of respondents want to see more phones with under-display selfie cameras in 2022, but only if image quality is actually good.

This makes sense, as there’s still a noticeable gulf in image quality between phones with under-display selfie cameras and front-facing cameras in a punch-hole/notch/bezel. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the Galaxy Z Fold 3, which has an under-display camera on the foldable screen and a camera in a punch-hole on the smartphone display. I found a massive quality gap between the two cameras when I used the foldable, with the under-display shooter taking shots that looked like they were smeared with Vaseline.

Related: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 second-opinion review — Big steps forward, small steps behind

Interestingly enough, the next most popular pick was a tie. Exactly 16.3% of voters said they want to see more under-display selfie cameras in 2022 even if the image quality was poor, while 16.3% of respondents said they want more under-display selfie cameras if image quality was merely okay. In other words, a combined 32.6% of polled readers want to see more phones with an under-display selfie camera in 2022 even if picture quality is lacking.

We’re guessing that people who voted for this option either don’t take selfies very often or simply value an uninterrupted screen experience.

Finally, 7.7% of readers say they simply don’t want to see under-display selfie camera phones in 2022 because they don’t care about the technology. Interestingly enough, a couple of comments suggest that companies need to fix things like under-display fingerprint sensors first.

Comments

• jimv1983: Anything to get rid of the damn hole punches and notches. I don’t even care if the image quality is worse. It could be a lot worse I’d still prefer no hole punch or notch. In fact they could just get rid of the front facing camera on my phone and I’d be ok with that.
• Jason Mclaughlan: Honestly the hole punch is perfectly fine as long as the camera qualify is amazing. Udc and pop up cameras come with limitations…Hole punch doesn’t. The only other option is a rear display for selfies but the display is either tiny aka hard to see or it removes wireless charging +adds thickness/weight and makes cases be less useful. Mid size Rear display + advanced udc would be ideal.
• Notpoliticalyet: I’d like to see a phone with a good in display fingerprint sensor first. They need to focus on fixing things that are currently not working as expected before jumping to the next thing. That’s what happens with these companies, they get greedy and they lose focus on the current tasks at hand.
• NetApex: It’s just a matter of time before someone introduces the tech on a watch…that no one will care about. Fast forward 3 years and Apple adds it to their watch for Facetime calls and everyone will think it’s God’s gift to tech.
• Grey: Given how bad the selfie camera is on the Pixel 6 Pro, maybe get the basic tech right before trying for advanced tech.
• Jor Beck: Bahaha, maybe they should perfect the under display fingerprint reader first. I’m pretty sure my years-old Oneplus 7 Pro had a better result than the new Pixel 6 Pro

Thanks for voting in our poll and for leaving a comment. Would you buy a phone with an under-display selfie camera this year? Let us know below.