By Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra will reportedly offer “good” 5x zoom quality.
- This is due to the previously rumored 50MP 3x tele camera, a leaker claimed.
- This would address a key weakness of Galaxy Ultra phones if confirmed.
Leaker Ice Universe claimed on X (formerly known as Twitter) that this new 50MP telephoto camera has a 0.7-micron pixel size and a 1/2.52-inch sensor size. This, therefore, isn’t the largest sensor by any stretch, being slightly bigger than the Pixel 7 Pro’s 48MP 5x periscope lens but falling well short of 50MP main cameras seen on the likes of the base Galaxy S23. It sounds like all these pixels will be put to good use, though.
The tipster asserts that Samsung will offer “good” 5x zoom quality owing to this sensor. They add that Samsung will “emphasize” the camera’s 5x zoom quality, presumably in marketing materials.
Addressing a key Ultra problem
This assertion makes sense as we’ve seen several brands using high-resolution 3x or 3.5x telephoto cameras while still offering respectable 5x to 10x zoom quality. Some of the more notable examples include the HUAWEI P60 Pro and the OPPO Find X6 Pro. So we’re glad to see Samsung apparently taking advantage of this trend.
It’s also worth noting that interstitial zoom quality (e.g. between 5x and 7x) has long been a major weakness of the Galaxy Ultra phones. For example, we thought the Pixel 7 Pro with its dedicated 5x camera beat the S23 Ultra at these zoom levels. Check out the comparison below.
The rumored shift to a 50MP 3x telephoto camera means Samsung could finally address this problem. Unfortunately, Ice Universe added that the 10x periscope camera is still the same old 10MP sensor. But the Ultra line is still one of the few phone families to offer 10x cameras in the first place, so we can’t complain much.
