Samsung over-complicates phone design with a motorized, pop-up swivel camera [telecom]

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The front camera is also the back camera. Hopefully it's durable.

By Ron Amadeo

Don't ever let anyone tell you smartphone design is boring. We've seen companies come up with various solutions to hide the front-facing camera "notch," from a motorized pop-up section to a fully old-school slider phone, but the latest implementation from Samsung is probably the most complicated. The company made a device with a motorized, pop-up, swivel camera.

The mid-range Galaxy A80 is an all-screen phone with an Oppo FInd X style motorized pop-up section. Samsung is one-upping its Chinese rival with a camera that swivels around when it rises, so the back camera can double as the front camera. There is a lot going on with this swivel camera section, too: there's a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP wide-angle lens, and 3D depth-sensing equipment.