Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra will reportedly ship with a 200-megapixel primary camera. The launch of the Galaxy S23-series is still more than a year away, but the latest rumors are now seemingly revealing some exciting tidbits about Samsung's 2023 flagship smartphones. Mobile photography has become a major differentiating factor for smartphones at all price points, but the competition is incredibly fierce at the top-end, where Apple's iPhone and Google Pixel devices trade blows with Samsung's Galaxy S-series.
The current-generation Galaxy S21 Ultra comes with a 108-megapixel image sensor and is Samsung's best offering in terms of mobile photography. However, some reports suggest that it still trails the iPhone 13 Pro Max in terms of its photography chops. The upcoming Galaxy S22 Ultra is also rumored to ship with a 108-megapixel camera, albeit an "improved" sensor with a 1/1.33-inch sensor size, an f/1.8 aperture, and 0.8μm pixels.
According to the well-known tipster Ice Universe, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will sport a 200-megapixel sensor as its primary camera. The tweet doesn't reveal any other information about the 2023 flagship but claims that the company will use the sensor "for several years" by optimizing it for other smartphones in subsequent years. As for the sensor itself, it is likely to be Samsung's in-house 200-megapixel ISOCELL HP1 sensor that was unveiled earlier this year. The sensor ships with relatively small 0.64 micron pixels but uses pixel binning technology to shoot 12.5-megapixel shots with 2.56-micron pixels. It also supports 8K videos at 30fps.
Galaxy S23 Ultra Might Not Be The First Smartphone With A 200MP Camera
There's no way to verify the Galaxy S23 rumor at this stage, but even if it does turn out to be accurate, Samsung's 2023 flagship might still not be the first smartphone with a 200-megapixel camera. That's because, according to recent rumors, Motorola will be the first brand to launch a smartphone with a 200-megapixel camera before Samsung, Xiaomi, Google, Apple, or anybody else. That said, Xiaomi is also reportedly working on a smartphone with a 200-megapixel sensor, but there are no further details about either of the devices at this stage.
The industry's first 200-megapixel smartphone camera sensor was unveiled by Samsung back in September. According to the company, the ISOCELL HP1 sensor can capture 8K video at 30fps with "minimum loss in the field of view." It is also said to bring massive improvements in low-light photography. Alongside the 200-megapixel sensor, Samsung also launched the 50-megapixel ISOCELL GN5 sensor with 1-micron pixels and ultra-fast autofocus capabilities.
Source: Ice Universe/Twitter