One of the main mysteries surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has been what camera configuration it might have. There have been plenty of leaks, but they can’t seem to agree. Finally though, it feels like there’s starting be a consensus, and it doesn’t sound positive; at least for those hoping for a big upgrade to the imaging hardware.
This consensus comes with the help of the latest Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera leak, courtesy of @UniverseIce (via Phone Arena), which is a complete specs list for the rear camera sensors.
The list includes a 200MP main camera using the same ISOCELL HP2 sensor as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, a 12MP ultra-wide camera using the same IMX564 sensor as that phone, and a 12MP 3x telephoto camera (taking cropped 10MP photos) using the same – you guessed it – IMX754 sensor as the S23 Ultra.
According to Korean sources,The S24 Ultra rear camera has not changed except for the negligible adjustment of 10x. pic.twitter.com/wGTaStUAQ0June 11, 2023
That just leaves the 10x periscope camera, which is also returning for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra according to this leak, but with a new IMX754+ sensor. That’s just a ‘+’ version of the IMX754 that’s used in the current model though, so it doesn’t sound like something that will have a massive impact.
Indeed, @UniverseIce – who has a good track record for leaks – describes this change as “negligible.”
If this is accurate, that would mean a previous leak that suggested there would be a 1-inch main sensor is wrong, but we were always skeptical of that claim, as the source doesn’t have much of a track record.
It would also mean more widely reported claims of a variable zoom telephoto camera were wrong, but we’d recently heard elsewhere that this probably wouldn’t be featured either. So while we’d take this latest leak with a pinch of salt, it seems credible.
Too few changes
That’s a big shame, because while the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the best camera phones on the planet, Samsung is in real danger of losing its lead, as rivals like the Xiaomi 13 Pro (and Xiaomi 13 Ultra) pack in bigger and arguably better sensors, while the iPhone 14 Pro has more natural image processing, and the Pixel 7 Pro has arguably smarter camera software.
By the time the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra launches, it will have the iPhone 15 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro to compete with, and it’s likely they’ll push ahead further too, based on what we've already heard.
So, if Samsung wants to justify the sure-to-be-high price of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and see it rank among the best phones, it’s going to need to make some big changes somewhere.
