Samsung Galaxy A9’s 4 cameras, explained

Samsung

• Samsung announced its Galaxy A9 phone with four rear-facing
  cameras.
• More cameras can be better, as they offer more versatility,
  like the LG V40’s triple-lens camera system. 
• But the fourth camera in the Galaxy A9 doesn’t add any extra
  versatility that the LG V40 doesn’t already have. 
• Don’t get duped into the smartphone camera race. 

There’s a new race in smartphone features: how many cameras can
we fit onto a phone?

It’s a race that could easily and understandably tap into the
very human mindset that “more is better.”

Indeed,
“more” sometimes is better, as shown by the LG
V40 and its triple-lens camera, which offers the most camera
versatility on any smartphone. The primary lens is a regular
wide-angle lens that most smartphones have. Another lens is a 2x
optical zoom lens that most premium smartphones have.
The third lens is an ultra-wide angle lens that captures a much
wider field of view, which not many other smartphones have. 

The Galaxy A9 has all those lenses, which is a great thing. But
the fourth lens is a dedicated “depth” camera designed to give
you the adjustable background blur. The only problem is, the LG
V40 can already do that with its triple rear cameras. In fact,
Google and Apple manage adjustable background blur with just a
single-lens camera on the Pixel 3 and iPhone XR,
respectively. 

I’m not really faulting Samsung for adding a fourth lens to the
Galaxy A9, and I’d be wrong to compare the mid-range Galaxy A9
against high-end smartphones. The Galaxy A9 and its four cameras
are absolutely shining brighter than other mid-range
smartphones. 

Just watch out for the camera race, as the winner doesn’t always
mean it’s better.