Can phones stop with the cloud-based camera features already?

The best camera phones continue to innovate in recent years when it comes to cool camera options and capabilities. Features like Google’s Best Take, object/shadow/reflection removal, and photographic styles/color profiles have all made an impact in the last few generations.

However, many smartphone makers are increasingly turning to the cloud to power new camera capabilities, and I absolutely hate this trend. Let me tell you why.

In the last 24 months or so, we’ve seen several brands adopting cloud-based camera features. Perhaps the best example is Google’s Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro phones offering Video Boost for low-light video and 8K resolution, relying on its servers to power this capability. I’ve also been using the vivo X200 Pro, so imagine my disappointment when it turned out that editing tools like photobombing removal, glare reduction, and AI Photo Enhancer all required an internet connection. 

Another prominent example is the OnePlus 13, which offers an AI Eraser, reflection removal, and AI Unblur functionality. Unfortunately, my colleague Ryan Haines confirmed that all of these features are powered by the cloud. What’s the point of companies bragging about AI on their phones when all these features require an internet connection?

The most recent example is the HONOR Magic 7 Pro. The phone has a cloud-based AI telephoto enhancement option that kicks in after 30x to “improve” zoom quality. I can maybe forgive HONOR for the internet connection requirement if the resulting images looked good, but they generally look like bad AI slop. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the worst uses of AI for photography from a major Android brand so far, topping the “AI modes” of yore that simply oversaturated images. Why does the tree in the AI image below have extra branches? The AI picture is weirder the longer you look at it.

There are several reasons why I have a deep disdain for most of these cloud-based camera capabilities. Perhaps the most important one for most people is that there are privacy and security concerns. I don’t want to give my photos and videos to smartphone companies, even if they have good intentions. Regardless of their data retention claims, I don’t want to run the risk of my photos and videos being leaked or mishandled. We already see our private details mishandled by other companies and even authorities, so there’s every chance the same could apply to smartphone makers.

Personally, my biggest issue with cloud-based camera functionality is the need for an internet connection in the first place. Yes, I’m connected to Wi-Fi most of the time and usually have reasonably fast cellular coverage when I’m out and about. But I’m up poop creek without a paddle if I want to use these features when in a remote area or while on a flight.

This is a huge problem for the Pixel’s Video Boost feature, which can require several gigabytes of bandwidth. So you’re out of luck if you have a small data cap or a slow connection. The former is something I still have to worry about when away from home given my prepaid mobile data plan. Even if you have a fast internet connection and uncapped bandwidth, you’ll still have to wait a few hours for the video to be processed by Google’s servers. These challenges could be addressed by offering low-light video and 8K video capture on-device. You know, like everyone else is doing. Sure, Google’s servers might offer higher-quality results than a local solution, but I’d wager that many people would trade some quality for the convenience of an on-device approach.

The good news is that there are a few great camera features that don’t require an internet connection. Google alone introduced the nifty Add Me feature so you can add yourself to a photo, Audio Magic Eraser so you can remove unwanted sounds from a video, and Super Res Zoom to improve hybrid zoom quality. The company also released its Zoom Enhance feature to improve the quality of long-range zoom snaps, although this is quite hit or miss.

I’m also glad to see on-device camera features from other brands, such as Samsung’s Single Take, Xiaomi’s AI Zoom, and 4K/120fps slow-mo and night video capture from various brands. It all shows that you don’t need the cloud to create cool camera tools, especially with recent Snapdragon and Dimensity chips making major strides in terms of imaging and AI capabilities.

That’s not to say I’m completely opposed to cloud-enabled camera features, but I hope companies think twice about using the cloud for many camera and general AI capabilities (e.g. transcriptions and summaries) in the future.