Galaxy S20: the camera will be incredible

One of the features that will distinguish the Galaxy S20 will be the photo department: it will be possible to record videos with 8K resolution

A couple of weeks after the official presentation of the new range of Samsung Galaxy S20 smartphones, consisting of Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra, new rumors emerge about the rear camera department of the two "lower" models. Indiscretions coming from Ice Universe, a usually very reliable source.

In a tweet and in just 171 characters Ice Universe describes perfectly what we should expect from the camera of the Galaxy S20 and S20+: "The S5KGW2 telephoto sensor of the S20/S20+ is a special 64 MP pure camera. It cannot be used for 4-in-1 interpolation at 16MP. It will be used for zoom cropping and 8K video." Also Ice Universe, a few days ago, had announced that the photo department of the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ will be completely different from that of the Galaxy S20 Ultra: the first two will have 12 MP main lens and 64 MP zoom, while the Ultra will have a 104 MP main and a 48 MP zoom.

How the Galaxy S20/S20+ zoom will work

As you know, 8K resolution is roughly equivalent to 33 Megapixels. So the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ won't be able to use the 12 MP main lens to record 8K video, unlike the S20 Ultra which has a 108 Megapixel main camera. They will, therefore, do so with the zoom lens, which comes in at 64 MP, enough to record in 8K. Also, since the S20 and S20+ won't have periscope zoom (which will be there on the S20 Ultra instead), the two smartphones will capture 64 MP photos and then crop each image depending on the zoom level selected by the user. It's yet to be discovered, however, if this solution will also be combined with a longer focal length of the zoom lens. If, that is, the zoom will be at least partially optical or 100% digital. In the second case it would be, at least on paper, a step backwards compared to the Samsung Galaxy S10 that have a 2X optical zoom.

Samsung Galaxy S20: missing a little

The new range of smartphones 2020 Samsung Galaxy S20 will be presented during the event Samsung Unpacked in San Francisco, February 11 at 11 am (Pacific time zone, in Italy will be eight o'clock at night). During the same event should also be presented the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, a foldable smartphone with clamshell design (and not booklet like the other foldable of Samsung, the Galaxy Fold). According to the latest rumors, this time from Max Weinbach of XDA Developers, the Galaxy S20 will cost 900-1,000 euros, the Galaxy S20+ will cost 1,050-1,100 euros, the Galaxy S20 Ultra 1,300 and the Galaxy Z Flip 1,400 euros. They will all be launched in 5G versions, but there will also be a 4G version of the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ that will cost about 100 euros less.