Eric Zeman / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Samsung will reportedly bring a 108-megapixel camera to the Galaxy A series.
- The sensor will appear next year on the Galaxy A73.
Samsung first introduced a 108-megapixel camera on last year’s Galaxy S20 Ultra and has been a staple of the company’s Ultra flagships ever since. But it seems like the company could be preparing to bring this technology to its cheaper smartphones.
The Elec reports that Samsung will bring a 108-megapixel camera into the Galaxy A73 smartphone by 2022. The Korean outlet didn’t cite a source for the claim, but it has a pretty good track record of Samsung-related leaks.
The point of sale adds that this camera will have optical image stabilization (OIS), which is in line with the previous report that Galaxy A-series phones will have OIS in 2022.
There’s no word on the exact model of the camera sensor we’ll see on the Galaxy A73, so there’s no guarantee we’ll get the same sensor as on Samsung’s Ultra phones. Nonetheless, this will still be a higher resolution camera than the Galaxy A72’s main 64 MP snapper.
The pros and cons of 108MP cameras
108-megapixel sensors provide more detailed shots in broad daylight when shooting at full resolution, although this comes at the expense of larger file sizes. These sensors also have smaller photo locations than high-end 48MP and 50MP cameras, but Samsung has used 4-in-one and nine-in-one pixel binning to allow for better shots in low light.
Another side effect of 108MP sensors is that recordings with full resolution often lead to longer processing times. Even last year’s Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (Exynos model) has record-to-record times of around two seconds when recording with 108 MP. That delay isn’t bad, but mid-range phones typically have less powerful silicon, so we hope Samsung tweaks the Galaxy A73’s chipset in this regard to keep processing times reasonable.
However, it looks like you should keep an eye on the Galaxy A-series phones from 2022 if you want good cameras on a budget.