Samsung Electronics will be adopting optical 5X zoom camera modules for its upcoming Galaxy smartphone tentatively named the Galaxy S11 scheduled for launch during the first half of 2020.
Industry sources said last week that this marks the first time for Samsung to apply the modules to its Galaxy smartphone series.
The modules will be supplied by sister firm Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which began mass producing the optical 5X zoom camera modules in May this year. The first batch was applied to China’s flagship smartphone series, the Reno. Huawei Technologies’ flagship P30 has also been fitted with the 5X zoom camera.
Industry watchers note that optical zooming usually has preference because pictures remain intact even when they are enlarged. But when this technology is applied, the smartphone becomes thicker, which is why most smartphones had 2X or 3X zoom cameras. The Galaxy S10 and the iPhone 11 both had 2X zoom cameras.
The optical camera module for the Galaxy S11 will come in the periscope type, which prevents the module from sticking out in the back of the phone. China’s Oppo featured a similar 5X zoom module at the Mobile World Congress in 2017.
Israel-based Corephotonics, which had worked together with Oppo at the time, was acquired by Samsung Electronics this year. This had triggered speculation at the time that the Galaxy series would adopt similar periscope type zooms.
The Galaxy S11 is also to feature a rear quad camera including a 108 million-pixel wide angle camera, along with 3D sensing ToF modules.
In August, Samsung Electronics’ system LSI division said it has developed a 108 million pixel image sensor for the first time in the industry. The lens and camera module is being developed by Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
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