Are pop-up and flip-up cameras the future of the smartphone selfie camera?

Mechanized cameras — are they the future or should we leave them in the past?

To put this new trend in perspective, mechanized smartphone cameras are not entirely new.

Here’s a bit of a history lesson: back in 2015 Huawei revealed the Shot X smartphone with a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera that flipped up so it could double as the selfie shooter.

Now, between this year and last year, many Asia-based smartphone manufacturers launched handsets with mechanized parts. There’s the Oppo Find X, Oppo Reno 10X Zoom, Oppo F11 Pro, Vivo Nex S, Vivo V15 Pro, Lenovo Z5 Pro and Samsung Galaxy A80, all phones that feature cameras that pop up in one way or another.

Even just this week, Realme announced the Realme X, OnePlus launched the 7 Pro and Asus revealed its ZenFone 6.  The latter two devices are either now available in Canada or coming here soon.

Are mechanized pop-up or flip-up cameras the answer to giving users more screen real-estate? Or should smartphone manufacturers stick to notches and hole-punch displays, or try to figure out something else?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.