It’s nice to have a decent camera, but honestly, 90% of the people (including myself) are so bad at taking pictures, that the difference between mid range and ultra premium is almost zero.

The only thing that’s really really cool is night mode. My Pixel can take really great photos with extremely low light levels.

I don’t post on social media either, but my phone have replaced the compact camera that I used to pack for family vacations.

I suspect that’s what most people use their phone camera phone: to take personal photos that will only be shared with family members.

My socially isolated self rarely if ever needs to take a single picture. I’m doing perfectly fine with the base camera that my old devices came with.

The cameras aren’t even bad, they are perfectly acceptable for a mid-range phone. If you use a GCam port they can look great.

In terms of BOM the cameras usually aren’t even that much. It’s just one factor that allows them to differentiate “premium” phones they can gouge more for.