Samsung has just announced three new camera sensors and one of them will surely form the basis of the main shooter on the upcoming Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus.
The three sensors include the 200MP USICELL HP9, the 50MP ISOCELL JN5 and the 50MP ISOCELL GNJ. While each is interesting in its own right, the ISOCELL GNJ has a 1/1.57-inch sensor size, which nearly matches the sensor sizes in the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus (1/1.56-inch).
Samsung has been using the same sensor size since the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, and earlier rumors have indicated the company has no plans to increase the overall sensor size for the S25 series. As such, it is fair to assume that this is the sensor we will see in the S25's main camera.
Samsung did mention a few improvements to the sensor over prior models, including an anti-refractive layer and pixel isolation. These are designed to help improve light capture, reduce reflections, deliver more accurate shadows/dark areas and improve color reproduction. The company has also added that the ISOCELL GNJ will also bring improved power consumption, including a 29% efficiency boost in preview mode and a 34% gain with 4K/60FPS video.
This isn't the only camera rumor we have heard regarding the Galaxy S25. A recent leak revealed the Galaxy S25 Ultra would be coming with an improved 3x telephoto camera, using a 50MP sensor compared to the Galaxy S24’s 10MP one.
We've also seen conflicting reports over the processor inside the phones. Some leakers have claimed Samsung plans to drop Qualcomm as the main chip producer for the Galaxy S25 in favor of MediaTek, at least in some regions. However, other rumors suggest the South Korean giant may instead go all in with Qualcomm and its Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 instead.
There have been some concerns about Samsung’s apparent focus on its Galaxy AI features over making any substantial hardware changes with its recent flagship phones. Galaxy AI certainly has a lot of functionality, but the issue for Samsung is whether this and future upgrades will be enough to draw in customers over more obvious hardware changes.
Another question is if smaller upgrades like this will be enough to convince people to pay the rumored price increase for a new Galaxy S, something that many would already see as a luxury product. For the time being, we will have to wait and see what other upgrades Samsung has in store when the Galaxy S25 finally releases at some point early next year.
In the meantime, you can check out our Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Ultra hub for all the news and rumors as we hear them.
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