14 DAY TRIAL // Nexus 5, the next Google phone out there, should become official before the end of this month, yet details on its hardware capabilities are still unconfirmed.
However, courtesy of recent leaks, we had the chance to learn a bit more info on what the smartphone’s camera could be all about.
According to details that emerged over at Android World, we now know that Nexus 5 will be launched with a Sony IMX179 camera inside. As Android and Me explains, this is a non-BSI, f/2.4 CMOS sensor, the same one used in Meizu’s MX3.
Should Nexus 5 pack solely the Sony IMX179 camera, it would offer decent photo shooting capabilities, but nothing amazing.
However, based on remarks that Vic Gundotra made a few months ago, future Nexus devices should include “insanely great cameras,” and chances are that Nexus 5 will be the first of them.
Specifically, this means that the Sony IMX179 sensor inside it might arrive as part of a MEMS camera assembly, namely Digital Optics’s MEMS autofocus module for smartphones.
As Android and Me speculates, Google and LG might have chosen such a camera for the upcoming Google phone, which would deliver great imaging capabilities to all those who will purchase the device.
MEMS cameras use a shoot first, focus later approach, taking a series of shots at different focal points in a rapid succession and then combining them in a single file.
MEMS cameras are very fast when it comes to auto-focusing, and the resulting file will also allow users to focus in different points.
Unfortunately, MEMS cameras (also known as “mems | cam”) are slated to enter production only in Q4, which could prove a bit too late for the Nexus 5.
Furthermore, they are twice as expensive when compared to other smartphone cameras out there. Provided that Google is indeed planning on using such as sensor inside Nexus 5, it might also have to increase the phone’s price.