Samsung

Samsung’s new trio of camera sensors could show up in future Galaxy or Pixel phones

Ben Schoon | Jun 27 2024 - 8:28 am PT

Samsung just unveiled a collection of new ISOCELL camera sensors for smartphones, and they could be the successors that end up in future Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices.

In a post this week, Samsung announced the ISOCELL HP9, GNJ, and JN5. The three new sensors each serve a different purpose.

ISOCELL HP9 is a 200MP sensor that’s designed specifically for use with a telephoto lens. Samsung has been making 200MP sensors for a while now, with one of those, the ISOCELL HP2, being the main camera sensor used in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung says the HP9 features a 1/1.4-inch sensor size, 0.56-micrometer (μm) pixel size, and uses a new high-refractive microlens to capture more light and improve autofocus. Most telephoto cameras today aren’t quite so high in megapixel count, but the Honor Magic 6 Pro helped prove how good a high-resolution telephoto sensor can be.

Perhaps we’ll see something similar in a future Galaxy flagship?

Then, there’s the ISOCELL JN5, a 50MP camera sensor from Samsung that seems to be focused on being a generalized sensor for multiple applications. The sensor features a 1/2.76-inch sensor size and 0.64μm pixel size. In other words, it’s a smaller sensor which can be used in a wide variety of applications.

Finally, the Samsung ISOCELL GNJ is another 50MP camera sensor, but this time with a sensor size of 1/1.57-inch and pixel size of 1.0μm. The dual-pixel sensor, Samsung says, features improved video, less artifacting in photos, and much lower power consumption. This sensor is in the same series as Google uses in its latest Pixel devices, making it at least a candidate for future Pixel phones. That said, this one is a smaller size, so it may not end up in a Pixel flagship anytime soon, especially seeing as Google doesn’t upgrade its main sensor every generation (and just did so last year).