Is It Truly Useful to Have LEDs on the Again of a Smartphone?

OnePlus may be about to hitch Nothing in producing an Android cellphone with LEDs on the again. However are they really helpful, or is it only for present?

Within the early days of the smartphone period, innovation was fast-paced. Followup fashions had far more enhancements till they peaked in direction of the top of the 2010s when new smartphones have been all about incremental updates. That is the case for present smartphones, from the iPhones to Samsung Galaxies.

Nonetheless, as a brand new smartphone firm, Nothing introduced one thing distinctive by together with LEDs in the back of its first machine, the Nothing Cellphone (1). And now OnePlus may be becoming a member of within the enjoyable. However are LEDs on the again of a smartphone useful, or is it only a gimmick?

OnePlus Exhibits a Idea Cellphone With LED Lights on the Again

OnePlus showcased an idea cellphone forward of MWC 2023 primarily based on the OnePlus 11 with blue LED strips on the again as the foremost spotlight. These “icy blue pipelines” run via the idea’s complete again, making the machine seem as if it has a “sequence of blood vessels,” in keeping with the corporate (through The Verge).

LED lights on the again have been delivered to gentle by Nothing when the corporate launched its first machine in July 2022. The LED-centric design is cool, and it positive did assist Nothing get the media hype at launch. However is there any utility that may make rear LEDs one of many options your subsequent smartphone ought to have?

Ought to You Care About Having LED Lights on Your Subsequent Smartphone?

To know how rear LEDs may have some utility on a smartphone, let’s take some notes from the pioneer, the Nothing Cellphone (1).

The Nothing Cellphone (1)’s glyph interface LEDs serves 4 sensible features. First, as a light-weight supply to the digicam when taking photos at midnight; second, to test your battery proportion; third, to establish completely different notifications (for example, you may use one lighting sample to establish calls, one other for SMS, and so forth); and, lastly, you may additionally assign a novel glyph sample to particular person contacts.

To take pleasure in these features, the Cellphone (1) assumes you may at all times have your machine in your eyesight. These are all nice-to-haves however pointless, and also you’re higher off utilizing built-in options. For example, on Android you possibly can view your battery proportion simply, set a novel ringtone for particular person contacts, and you will get extra gentle onto the topic through the use of the flashlight as a substitute of rear LEDs.

This makes Nothing’s LED glyphs gimmicky, simply as we said in our Nothing Cellphone (1) overview. They’re more likely to be that for OnePlus, too, if the corporate provides them to a future cellphone.

The intense facet is that they assist add an additional oomph to a smartphone’s design. To some, it might be a welcome change in an trade the place design variations are restricted to putting the rear cameras at completely different angles.

However so far as utility goes, do not count on something tangible when shopping for a cellphone with rear LEDs.

You Do not Want Rear LEDs on Your Smartphone

If the Nothing Cellphone (1) with its glyph LEDs is something to go by, there is no actual utility in having rear LEDs on a smartphone. They’re primarily gimmicky, so do not buy a cellphone solely for that. To some, nevertheless, this may be okay in order for you a cellphone that grabs consideration in a panorama the place gadgets all look the identical.