Where’s the improvement, Samsung?
The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is still at least three months away from its official launch. While there have been several leaks surrounding the Galaxy S22 Ultra, they have all primarily focused on its design and the S-Pen slot. Today’s leak, courtesy of Ice Universe, shifts the focus on the camera specs of Samsung’s next flagship phone, and if you were expecting a significant upgrade, prepare to be disappointed.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra will pack an improved version of the 1/1.33-inch 0.8µm 108MP ISOCELL HM3 sensor found on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, with an f/1.8 aperture and 85″ FoV. The 12MP 1/2.55-inch ultra-wide sensor will be sourced from Sony with a pixel pitch of 1.4µm and an f/2.2 aperture.
For the periscope zoom cameras, Samsung plans to use two new 1/3.52-inch Sony sensors that will be slightly smaller than the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 1/3.24-inch sensors. The 10x optical zoom camera will have a 10MP resolution with an f/4.9 aperture and 11° FoV. The 3x optical zoom camera will also feature a 10MP resolution with f/2.4 aperture and 36° FoV. The reduction in sensor size means their pixel pitch will be down to 1.12µm, compared to 1.22µm on the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Going by the specs, it looks like the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s cameras will be largely similar to those on the Galaxy S21 Ultra. It will be disappointing to see Samsung continue using a small 1/2.55-inch ultra-wide sensor on the Galaxy S22 Ultra despite other flagship smartphones moving to bigger sensors. The minor hardware upgrade means any image quality improvements on the Galaxy S22 Ultra should come from better software processing. While Google’s camera evolution was based around the same 12MP sensor for many generations, we know that Samsung isn’t great in that department and has historically relied on brute hardware. Thus, don’t expect anything pathbreaking from Samsung next year.
In another tweet, Ice Universe shared some information about the Galaxy S22 and S22+. Like the iPhone 13 series, these phones will have a flat front and rear with symmetrical top and bottom bezels.
From all the leaks we have seen so far, the Galaxy S22 series is shaping up to be a minor refresh over the Galaxy S21 series. With the Galaxy S sales already on the decline, next year’s minor refresh might not bode too well for the S22 series.
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