We’ve heard plenty of rumors that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra will be getting a 200MP camera sensor. Now a new report from Korean media outlet ETNews (opens in a new tab) apparently confirms the upgrade.
According to the report, “Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Experience (MX) division has shared confirmed information with major camera partners that it will install a 200-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S23.” It goes on to say that the Galaxy S23 Ultra flagship will be the only model in the series to feature the 200MP camera.
Ever since Samsung launched the 200MP HP1 sensor, the S23 Ultra was advised to get a 200MP camera. A leak even suggested that the specific camera sensor the phone will use has not yet been released by Samsung. A tweet by a reliable tipster ice universe (opens in a new tab) said the 200MP lens will not be the previously released HP1 or HP3 sensor, but could be the unreleased HP2 sensor.
This time it’s not a tweet or a rumour, but an actual post making the claim – meaning it’s more likely that Samsung will bring a 200MP camera to its flagship next year.
In the pixel race, Samsung introduced a 108MP camera on its Ultra models starting with the Galaxy S20 Ultra in 2020 and were the highest resolution cameras you’ll find on a smartphone. Finally, after three consecutive years of the same 108MP on its Ultra models, Samsung would be offering us a 200MP sensor.
In a bid to get the highest pixel count on phones quickly, smartphone makers are opting for readily available technology. The Samsung HP1 200MP sensor just made its debut in Motorola’s X30 Pro which beat out Samsung to become the first smartphone to feature a 200MP camera.
The camera can take 200MP photos but if storage is an issue, it can use pixel binning (a technique that merges pixels to take a large image and resolve it into a smaller one while preserving detail) to take photos at 50MP or 12.5MP. It’s possible the Samsung S23 Ultra will follow suit with a similar capability and the company’s previous S22 Ultra model had a 108MP camera that could also output 12MP pixel-clustered images.
After the exceptional performance of its cameras on the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22 Ultra all eyes are on Samsung’s upcoming flagships that could launch next year. The S23 Ultra already looks to have a bright future ahead of it with a 200MP lens and it looks like the flagship is gearing up to take on Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
Apple’s iPhone 14 series is expected to launch next month, and the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are expected to include a new 48MP main sensor with 8K video support. It’s a far cry from 200MP, but the megapixels might not be enough to prove which is the better shooter. Apple has always impressed with its digital photography and image processing thanks to its Bionic chips. With the new A16 Bionic chip that we saw on the iPhone 14 Pro, Samsung will have to strengthen its processing capabilities.
The S23 Ultra is rumored to have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset globally. In our Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max Head-to-head, we found that Samsung’s camera didn’t perform as well and Apple had sharper, brighter images.
We’ll have to wait and see if the Galaxy S23 Ultra makes it to our best camera phones list with its 200MP camera. Samsung may launch its S23 series in January next year. Until then, stay tuned to our Galaxy S23 hub for all the latest rumors and leaks on upcoming phones.
Comments are closed.