All camera bulges are a poor design. Just make the battery thicker. Either way people are throwing a case on to make the back straight again.

> Just make the battery thicker

These devices are already rather heavy.

I wish there were more options for people who don’t care that much about the camera in their smartphone. I remember the non-bump camera in the 7.6 mm thin 2016 iPhone SE was perfectly fine for many situations, I took some impressive vacation photos with it.

There's a whole market of 250-400$ Android phones that are targeting exactly that. Every brand makes phones in the cheap with average camera segment.

Unfortunately those come with extremely weak hw. I got one of those phones (there are no high end, small, 3.5, rootable phones). I struggle to use background apps.

> I wish there were more options for people who don’t care that much about the camera in their smartphone.

Just get a cheap phone? If you're paying $500+ for a phone, I'd estimate most of that money is going into the camera. Judging by the marketing, anyway.

> Either way people are throwing a case on to make the back straight again.

Alternatively it's just exploiting "everyone uses a case" to get a mm or two of space for the camera lens that can very productively use it. Thickening the whole device only makes sense for people who don't use a case, which is basically no one (well, me, but most people love their cases).

Indeed, at this point my workflow is pretty mature. The camera bump ends up unnoticeable to me because I'll throw it into a Spigen case anyway. Seems like a lot of people are doing that.

I love the camera bump on the Pixel 6. I made a leather belt pouch¹ for it for use on trips and hiking, and the camera bump sits neatly on the edge of the front of the pouch (the back part curves around as a flap over the top). It gives my fingers exactly the right grip to grab it and get a solid grip on the whole device as I lift it out of its pouch.

Never used a case for any phone I've owned.

1: Using the wet moulding technique.

No one wants that weight. A thicker battery puts the phone out of comfort for everyone. A thicker camera bump puts the phone out of comfort for only a few.

I think the bulges are because everyone’s using a case anyway, so they may as well bump out. Unless someone’s doing the “I care so little about protecting several hundred dollars that I use an expensive phone without a case” thing.

I never used a case in my life, owned like 6 phones since my first Galaxy back in 2012. Much rather deal with a few scratches than touching some cheap case instead of the premium metal/glass.

My reason is that I never sell phones anyway, after 2 years I get a new one and give the old one to a cousin or something like that.

Have you held a Pixel 7 Pro? They are _way_ too smooth without a case. It's like trying to hold a wet bar of soap.

I have a leather case for my Pixel 7 [1]. Much better feel in the hand.

1. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1303285181/leather-google-pi...

I used to say the same thing, then one day I tripped and shattered my phone. It was nothing I did that caused it. Just a small bit of uneven pavement was enough to ruin the whole device.

I have dry hands and can't hold my Galaxy S23+ with glass back at all. It slips out of my hand all the time. No way I can use without a case. It'd break on the first day.

It's not about selling them. It's about protecting it when you drop it etc.

I never use cases and I haven't had a phone break from physical damage in over a decade. Phones these days are pretty dang durable. I really don't want a giant brick in my pocket.

I just pay the extra $30 or whatever for accident protection. That's about the same price as a case and accomplishes the same goal. I think of it as a zero-ounce case.

Where do you get $30 accident protection for the lifetime of a phone? I've looked into Apple Care for this in the past, and it was about 10 times that for two years, with a deductible for broken screens.

I honestly don't remember how much it was when I got my last phone, but I don't remember thinking it was particularly expensive. I'm an Android user.

I never used a case and know a number of other people who don’t.

I've never used a case and never will. It's not that hard to not drop your phone, and unless you get a heavy duty case (like an OtterBox) they aren't adding much protection anyways. It's not worth the added expense, ugly look, and crappy plastic texture.

My wallet case is indispensable (to me). In other words, I'd rather use the "space" of the camera's bump-out for my own purposes (ID and credit card) than a worse camera or even more-er battery life (for some time now "more than a day" is indistinguishable to me from "more than a day and a half") or some other gadget. Probably. Um, maybe put some more gadgets on the phone and I'll get back to you on that one...

iPhone bumps have been so egregiously large that they don't lay flat even with a case for a few years now.

You've got to specifically look for one that has raised corners or something to compensate.

I really liked the "visor" style of camera bump since the Pixel 6. I like symmetry so the square corner bumps always bothered me, plus it didn't give it a corner wobble when sitting on a table. I wish they would have gone full width on the new Fold :/

At least the non-folding Pixel 9's have the symmetry in tact for the outline of the bump, but agreed, I do like the full-width visor on my 6 better.

My main criticism with the camera bump on the Pixel 9 are the sharp edges. It makes it difficult to slip into pants without catching, and also collects dust.

I was hoping they'd chamfer the edge in future models but it doesn't look like that's happening.

Using a case solves this, but it shouldn't be required.

I hated the camera bulge and in display finger reader on the 7 so much that I downgraded to a 5

Mobile phones are a mature technology. There aren't any opportunities to differentiate designs. For cars, they all look the same and differentiate brands with headlights and grills, phones only have the camera bump to differentiate brands.

It's a really ugly phone, and for sure it's a combination of Google playing "catch up" but not wanting to invest in Industrial Design like Apple.

I think the much rounder corners, as well as the round camera bulge look terrible. These were significantly better in the previous iterations.

Is it? Maybe I've spent too long using iPhones—I look at that, and think "yep, that's a phone". It looks very vanilla.

I thought the same before I bought it (Pixel 8) but with a case it's okay.

Cases have helped on past pixels but agreed, this one looks pretty terrible!