The rumor passed along on Twitter is scarce in detail. It simply states that Samsung plans to replace the existing telephoto sensor with a new solution on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. There’s no clarity regarding what will change. But the wording suggests we are in for a whole new sensor employing a different zoom mechanism than what the current Galaxy flagships have. A mere resolution upgrade shouldn’t be a major talking point. But what type of sensor the Galaxy S24 series, or at least the Galaxy S24 Ultra, will feature is still anyone’s guess. LG Innotek yesterday unveiled a new Optical Telephoto Zoom Camera Module that offers continuous zoom from 4X to 9X magnification levels, like on a DSLR or professional cameras. Most current telephoto zoom cameras for smartphones are limited to fixed zoom levels. They offer optical zoom only at those specified magnification levels and apply digital zoom everywhere else. This mechanism affects the image quality. Maybe Samsung is planning to introduce something similar in the Galaxy S24 series.
The Galaxy S24 series could come with improved zoom cameras
Samsung’s Galaxy S series phones already capture excellent zoom shots. The Ultra model comes with two zoom cameras offering up to 10X optical zoom. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is currently the industry leader, though it will soon hand over the baton to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. If rumors are to be believed, the latter will arrive on the market in February next year. However, Samsung could take things up a notch in 2024. If the latest rumor turns out to be accurate, the company may raise the bar significantly for smartphone zoom cameras. Perhaps it may focus on improving the zoom solution and keep the main shooter largely unchanged, at least on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. That wouldn’t be a bad idea, though. The Galaxy S23 Ultra will debut its third-gen 200MP camera. Any improvement to that, even software improvements, should do the job for its successor. That said, the Galaxy S24 series is still way ahead in the future, so take this rumor with some caution. Samsung has yet to officially announce the Galaxy S23 series, though the wait for those phones won’t be much longer now. We will keep you posted will all the latest information about the upcoming Galaxy flagships.