Phones with Laser AF

Laser autofocus is a distance-measuring aid for focusing: the phone fires an invisible infrared laser pulse, computes the subject's distance from how long it takes to return, and drives the camera to the right distance in one move.

It earns its keep exactly where image-based focusing goes blind: dark rooms, plain textureless surfaces and close-ups. Because it reads distance rather than light, it stays fast and steady there too. Its range is limited — beyond a few metres the camera's own focus system takes over again.