BANGKOK - Tech giant Samsung has tackled one of the more pressing issues facing many people in the first world these days - the quality of a phone's selfie camera.
Its new Galaxy A80 upends the usual method by allowing selfies and videos to be taken using the rear camera itself.
This is down to the company's new technology, which pops the camera up on the top of the phone whenever it is in selfie mode and then flipping 180 degrees to face the front.
As the selfie camera slides up and above the phone, it also allows the screen to showcase a true infinity display.
This means it does away entirely with the bezel, the notch and even the hole-punch camera. Pictures and videos can therefore fill out the entire 6.7-inch Super Amoled display screen.
The innovation was showcased at the global launch of the phone last night in Bangkok, which joined Milan and Sao Paulo to unveil the product simultaneously.
Samsung said it designed the A80 to cater to what it calls "the era of live", or the trend of consumers sharing moments in real time.
And as users increasingly move toward streaming live videos of themselves talking and engaging in various activities, a high-quality selfie camera seems an answer to their needs.
The A80 phone comes with a triple camera set-up - a 48-megapixel main camera along with a 3-D depth one and an ultra-wide angle lens that has the same viewing angle as the human eye.
The phone also has what it calls a Super Steady video mode, which claims to reduce shakiness and blurriness in action shots.
Another feature is called flaw detection technology, which notifies you if it detects any problems from a smudge on the lens to back lighting and closed eyes.
While Samsung's Galaxy A series is considered its mid-range line of phones, the firm experiments with new concepts and features, some of which eventually make it to the company's flagship S and Note series.
The A80 is available in three colours - angel gold, phantom black and ghost white - and comes with 128GB of internal storage.
While the phone's 3,700mAh battery does not sound particularly impressive, it does have a intelligent system that learns the user's daily usage patterns and optimises it for power consumption.
The Galaxy A80 will be available in Singapore in the second quarter with pricing to be announced.
