While smartphone cameras have seriously attacked the prevalence of compact cameras here at CES, the number of smartphone camera accessories is seriously on the rise. Lenovo now has a tiny flash specifically for taking selfies called the Vibe Xtension.
For $30, you get a tiny circular array of LED lights that plugs into the headphone jack of a smartphone. I’ve seen a few general tech sites calling it a “ring light,” but that’s not really the case–it’s just shaped like a ring, it doesn’t actually surround the lens or give the effect of a true ring light.
It gets about 100 “flashes” per charge and actually syncs up with the phone’s camera so it can “flash” at the right time. I put “flash” in quotes because it’s not really a true strobe effect that freezes motion in place. It’s just a burst of light from the LEDs as if you were to amplify the power of your smartphone’s current “flash.”
it doesn’t really seem to be powerful enough to use as a video light like some other options, so this seems like it really is specifically for taking selfies. In actuality, the light likely isn’t enough to make a selfie more flattering, but at least it will be a little brighter.