We've had front facing cameras on the platform since the unveiling of the HTC Radar and TITAN, but only a handful of Windows Phones actually sport the famous secondary shooter. The front facing camera enables consumers to take self-portrait shots, video conference with contacts, and more. It's pretty useful, should you require it.
Many Lumia 800 owners complained about a number of issues with the Windows Phone when it was released, and one of the more popular complaints was the lack of a front facing camera. So to see the above chart illustrating the results of a Windows Phone Central poll, it's interesting to see who actually makes use of the feature.
We asked you, the community, whether or not you make use of the front facing camera. Over 3,500 of you took part in our poll and we saw an impressive response with 100+ comments, so it's definitely a hot topic for discussion to take place. While the data collected by the responses left may not be perfect, it provides us with a rough idea for analysis to take place. Note that some participants who answered "No" may not own a Windows Phone that features such functionality.
Looking at the above chart, we can see the dominant answer that majority of Windows Phone owners do not make use of their front facing camera, sat at a comfortable 31%. Opposing this were both those who use the feature on a regular basis (11%) and those who sparsely make the odd video call (23%). 11% claimed they do not use the camera, but plan to do so in the future. What's interesting to note here is our odd choice - "Waiting for Windows Phone 8 and Skype". This option also received 23% of the vote.
With Windows Phone 8 Apollo just around the corner, and new hardware on the horizon, we can look forward to more Windows Phones sporting such a feature for Skype and other apps that make use of a front facing camera. Whether consumers will actually make use of the functionality is a separate matter. Look at the iPhone where each and every iPhone 4S has a front facing camera. We wonder what percentage of users actually use it?
