Huawei and the mystery of the laptop nose cam

It’s a phenomenon we in the tech business are fairly used to. Innovations are announced to great fanfare, only to quickly prove useless and fade into obscurity once again. Huawei, however, is demonstrating a certain steadfastness, refusing to ditch the edgy camera that first appeared on its notebooks in 2018.

Needless to say that function key-based webcams aren’t the most recent example of nonsensical tech developments. 2018 was a different era altogether. Pre-pandemic, pre-lockdown and pre-homeworking, the boom in video conferencing was yet to take off. It was a trend that’d make webcams increasingly important. All of a sudden, people everywhere were sitting with their laptops in living rooms or at dining tables. We started talking to our screens, or more precisely, to the little black hole where the camera lens is located.

The search for the best camera spot

On most laptops, cameras were – and are – positioned on the top edge of the screen. The thing is, this takes up space. Which is why manufacturers have been looking for alternative ways to produce displays with even thinner bezels for years. Apple created the camera notch, making a virtue out of necessity, Meanwhile, others either tried to make the camera module even smaller and more compact or placed it behind the display. And Huawei? Well, they went down the nose-cam route.

After all, if the webcam can’t fit into the laptop lid, the logical conclusion is that it has to go elsewhere. To be honest, I don’t think placing it in line with the function keys is that far-fetched. It’s not like I know what all these keys do anyway.

However, just because you’ve found a place for something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good one. There’s no doubt that it’s a nice touch from an engineering point of view when you press a button and, instead of something happening on the screen, a camera pops out. It takes real design know-how to get such delicate spring mechanisms right.

When you’ve got the most awkward camera angle on the video call

So, there it is – the camera. Sticking out of the keyboard like a pimple. The moment comes for you to boot up your fancy new Huawei notebook for the first time and join a video call. Initially, your gaze falls on the monitor, where everybody’s cheerful faces are displayed. And then? Then, you catch sight of yourself at the bottom right. Filmed at a 45-degree angle from below.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and call this angle...unfavourable. Nobody wants to be filmed or photographed from below. That being said, here’s what I found on the website of a photography studio specialising in portraits:

True enough. Displayed at Huawei’s dizzyingly steep camera angle, however, you look anything but «grand». Worst-case scenario, the sight of your bogies or nose hair instead of the thinning hair on your head will leave everyone feeling unnerved. And don’t even think about typing anything on your notebook during a video call. Your fingers will look massive – like the sandworms in Dune. Fair play to Veronica, whose fingers look distinctly less worm-like than mine.

So did Huawei ever get the message? Not initially. The nose cam also appeared in the Matebook series from late 2021. It wasn’t until the MateBook X Pro came out in 2022 that the developers wised up and found a space for the camera at the top of the screen after all.

Can you think of any other engineering blunders from the world of technology? Like that Apple mouse with the charging port on the bottom, perhaps? I look forward to reading your comments.