Galaxy S23 Ultra 200MP Camera Could Be Even Better Than Expected

According to the prolific tipster Ice Universe, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will indeed utilize a 200MP sensor, one that could still use the company’s Tetra pixel binning tech to produce 50MP images by default. But while that might not be new at this, the source claims that the model won’t use the ISOCELL HP1, much less the newer HP3. It will, the leak alleges, sport a completely new Samsung sensor that we haven’t heard of yet.

This wouldn’t be surprising, of course, since Samsung does set aside a different set of sensors for itself versus the ones that it sells to other phone makers. Unfortunately, no details are available yet, but this new sensor could be a tweaked and improved version of the 200MP ISOCELL HP1. What’s certain is that it will try to compete with the Sony IMX989 that debuted on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra this month. That model also has a 200MP camera but with a huge 1-inch sensor in contrast to the 1/1.22-inch and 1/1.4-inch sizes of the ISOCELL HP1 and HP3, respectively.

There will undoubtedly be questions about whether such a large sensor can justify the increased overall cost of the phone. A 200MP camera might sound good on paper, but it doesn’t come without any drawbacks. In addition to actual prices, Samsung will also have to do a bit of juggling to make room for the sensor and its lens, which, in turn, could result in losing some features or, in most cases, a reduced battery capacity.