More details have emerged surrounding the forthcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra and its selfie camera.
So far we’ve heard quite a lot about the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s sparkly new 200MP main camera, but relatively little about the phone’s selfie camera.
According to serial tipster Ice Universe, Samsung’s next flagship phone will launch with a new front-facing camera. It will move from the Samsung ISOCELL Slim GH13LU used in the Galaxy S22 Ultra to a component labelled the S5K3LU.
S23 Ultra camera sensor changes:Front camera (40MP GH1→12MP 3LU),Ultra Wide Angle (12MP IMX563→12MP IMX564),Main camera (108MP HM3→200MP HP2)The 3x and 10x telephoto sensors have not changed (IMX754→IMX754)P 1 is S23 Ultra, P 2 is S22 UltraThanks @edwards_uh pic.twitter.com/QuefuFlB0f— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) January 23, 2023
As tipped back in December, this will ostensibly see a downgrade from 40MP to 12MP. However, it’s worth remembering that the aforementioned 40MP sensor used pixel-binning techniques to produce 10MP shots.
If nothing else, this could enable Samsung to add 4K selfie video recording to the Galaxy S23 Ultra package, which has also been tipped. Indeed, that’s something that Ice Universe has claimed in a separate post over on Chinese social network Weibo. “Portrait videos can achieve 4K 30fps,” says the tipster (via machine translation). The Galaxy S22 Ultra can only hit 1080p at 30fps.
He also points out that “portraits are better separated from background”, suggesting that the new sensor will have a better handle on depth perception. Perhaps this means that the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s selfie camera will feature autofocus support, like the iPhone 14 range.
The addition of 4K selfie videos might have you worrying about extra heat build-up, but the tipster claims that “heat dissipation control is relatively good” in the new phone.
This would appear to back up previous rumours that the Samsung Galaxy S23 range will feature improved cooling systems.
Samsung will announce its new Galaxy S23 family of phones at an Unpacked event on February 1.
