In my humble opinion, the real advantage of this macro lens on an older smartphone is that it enables hand-held, close-up photos in dim light. Images come out bright & sharp, preserving the original color of subject. Of course a tripod is preferable but not necessary if you can support your hand on something. This is sometimes difficult to acheive using cameras with built-in or external flash without extensive Photoshop enhancing. On travel trips I often bring a small insect into my bathroom & photograph it in my ceramic sink or bathtub.

Note: With macro lens attached the magnification ratio is 2:1. I.e. the subject is twice its actual size on the sensor. With my Nikon SLR macro lens the magnification ratio is 1:1. I.e. the image will appear its actual size on the sensor. To be fair, I should state that all close-up images on this page have been zoomed up on the iPhone. Although zoomed digitally, they still look remarkably good; however, they cannot match my Nikon.