Vivo repacks selfie camera with ‘creator-centric' tweaks in new phone

“A smartphone that will very soon become every content creator’s best friend.” That’s leading phone brand Vivo’s marketing message for the launch of its latest smartphone, V21 5G.

The new device is the latest addition to the brand’s ‘V series’ line of camera-centric phones. It brings the focus back to the front camera, aka, the selfie camera. The front camera on this phone is equipped with optical image stabilisation, or OIS, that enables stable video recording and better low light photos. The feature, until now, has been limited to the rear, or the main cameras of phones.

It gets better. The camera is also accompanied by a couple of white LED lights. The functionality of these lights resembles accessories like ‘ring lights’ often used by online video creators and influencers.

Both the features are, in a way, a first for the industry.

Vivo’s way of repackaging the ‘selfie camera’, with noticeable functional tweaks, is interesting. As far as the on-screen experience goes, phone brands have been recently trying to make the camera less noticeable and intrusive.

Vivo’s heavy focus on the selfie comes at a time when brands have been trying to hide the selfie camera. Redmi K40 claims the ‘smallest punch hole’ tag for its selfie shooter. Similarly, several brands have hidden the camera within the phone. It pops out only when needed. ZTE even managed to hide the camera under the screen.

To drive the ‘content creator’ narrative, Vivo partnered with top online content creators-cum-influencers like Bhuvan Bam, Jannat Jubair and Nikhil Sharma (Mumbiker Nikhil) for the phone’s launch campaign.

The brand even appointed celeb-cricketer Virat Kohli as the ‘camera experience officer’ for the launch.