The Samsung Galaxy S30 could top the Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP main camera (and all its rivals to boot) with an even larger sensor.
SamMobile spotted a forum post on Clien.net that claims to know what Samsung is currently experimenting with for its next Galaxy S-series smartphone, including new sensors and the resolutions and tech behind them.
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The highlight right now is the rumored 150MP main camera. We've heard rumors before now that Samsung was working on a sensor for the S30 that would beat the 108MP camera it used on the S20 Ultra. It doesn't look like this new sensor will be ready in time for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 later this year, but hopefully 150MP will still be an unbelievably large sensor size in 2021 too.
Other sensors mentioned in the post include a 16MP ultrawide camera, a 64MP telephoto camera, a time-of-flight depth sensor and the possibility of a 12MP macro camera. A macro lens would be a first on a Galaxy S-series phone, since it's primarily used on the cheaper A-series phones.
S20 Ultra owners have been reporting problems with the $1,400 phone's autofocus system, making it hard to make the most of the phone's very valuable cameras. Fortunately for future S30 owners, the post claims that laser autofocus is being left out. Hopefully Samsung will replace it with a more reliable focusing method.
Interestingly, there are currently two versions of the S30 being tested with slightly different implementations of optical image stabilization (OIS). The first has OIS on the main, telephoto and selfie cameras, while the second has OIS on the main, telephoto and ultrawide cameras. Smartphone owners will use the variety of lenses on their phone at different frequencies, so perhaps Samsung is waiting for some data on whether its customers would prefer a stabilized selfie or ultrawide camera before settling on one design.
This could all change of course. The Galaxy S30 will in all likelihood not appear until February 2021, potentially later if Samsung's plans get messed up by various coronavirus-related complications.
We have the Galaxy Note 20 to look forward to in the meantime though. The next in Samsung's series of stylus-armed phablets is likely going to appear in August, brandishing similar camera tech to the Galaxy S20 series along with other enhancements like 120Hz display refresh rate, a larger battery and 5G across all models.
