Another report says main Galaxy S23 Ultra camera will be a 200-megapixel monster
We may earn a commission if you make a purchase from the links on this page.
The next Samsung Note/S series hybrid, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, is pretty much guaranteed to have a bonkers 200MP main camera. Samsung stuck with the same 108MP megapixel count for the last three generations of premium S range handsets, and while some may argue that the unit provided more than enough megapixels, it's been a while since Samsung announced its 200MP sensor and the South Korean company is probably itching to launch a device with it.
ETNews reports that Samsung Electronics' Mobile Experience (MX) unit has told its camera partner that the S23 Ultra will be equipped with a 200MP main camera so that they begin work on related parts.
Samsung announced its first 200MP smartphone camera, the ISOCELL HP1 last year, and in June, the company introduced another version of it called the ISOCELL HP3. The recently launched Motorola X30 Pro is the first smartphone to feature the HP1 and Xiaomi is also said to be working on a 200MP camera phone.
If you are wondering whether Samsung skipped the HP2 version number, that's not the case. Apparently, it exists but Samsung has reserved it for the S23 Ultra and it is expected to have different - and perhaps better - specs than the HP1 and HP3.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is one of the best camera phones around and in addition to a main 108MP camera, it has a 12MP ultrawide unit, a 10MP periscope telephoto module with 10x optical zoom, and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Rumors suggest that its successor will carry over the same telephoto specs with some software improvements thrown in and is unlikely to adopt the Galaxy Z Fold 4's under-display selfie camera.
Thanks to advancements in computational photography, the megapixel count is no longer that important a metric, which explains why Apple and Google try to avoid megapixel wars, but it continues to be a major selling point and per today's report, Samsung will highlight the 200MP camera as a standout feature.
It's not like high-resolution cameras don't have their own advantages though. More megapixels lead to gains in performance and help phones churn out detailed photos and ETNews says that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will offer significantly improved photos and videos.
The phone will likely pack a 5,000mAh battery, a better fingerprint sensor, and will presumably be powered by the unreleased Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The S23 family will likely be announced early next year.
Things that are NOT allowed: