Galaxy S24 camera: our expectations and the rumors so far

*The image above does not correspond to the Galaxy S24 series and is for illustration purposes only.

Now that most of the major phone announcements have come and gone, we’re looking back to next year. Typically, we get our first dose of Samsung’s flagship, which in 2024 will be the Galaxy S24 series.

Here you will find everything about Galaxy S24 camera system that has been revealed so far as rumors or leaks. The bottom line is, at least for now, the regular non-Ultra S24 and S24 Plus won’t get much love yet when it comes to camera upgrades. For the Galaxy S24 Ultra, however, there is news about some new hardware that should get us excited.

Galaxy S24 camera upgrades: What we expect

New main camera for the S24 Ultra

Last year, Samsung added an all-new 200 MP main camera to its high-end flagship model, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and for all intents and purposes, it continues to be one of the best on the market. Despite this, the renowned leaker ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) – who often shares Samsung-related leaks – said not too long ago that Samsung may be considering making it even better.

Even though the megapixels don’t change, Samsung apparently plans to upgrade the current main image sensor by optimizing it. The new version is called ISOCELL HP2SXI. The concrete improvements that this supposedly modified version would bring are, however, unclear at this stage.

No more 10X telephoto lens?

We didn’t say all the news was good, did we? So, according to several reports, including some again by ICE UNIVERSE, Samsung will likely ditch the 10X telephoto lens on the Galaxy S Ultra model with the S24 and replace it with a 50MP 5X telephoto lens instead.

There are several speculations as to why this decision could have been made by the tech giant. One speculation is that this is a pure cost-saving maneuver. THE Galaxy S24 is expected to have a higher overall production cost than its predecessor (mainly due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset), so Samsung could be looking for ways to counteract this.

The other assumption is that a combination of 3X and 5X telephoto lenses is much more usable and practical than a 3X and 10X pair. Plus, with the higher resolution of 50 MP, Samsung could still use in-sensor cropping to achieve that 10X. without loss (without loss of quality) zoom with the S24 Ultra.

Ultra-wide and selfie cameras

The other two cameras Galaxy S24 Ultra will come with it, the ultra-wide snapper and the selfie camera, both would be unchanged from the current generation.

Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus

For now, all camera-related leaks regarding the Galaxy S24 series let’s just talk about the Ultra model. In other words, cheaper Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S24 Plus will most likely stay with the same 50 + 12 + 10MP combo for the main, ultra-wide and 3X telephoto triple camera system on the back. The same goes for the 10 MP front selfie camera.

The only small hope we have for some sort of upgrade with these two models is either a rumored switch from Sony sensors to Samsung’s own ISOCELL image sensors for telephoto lenses, which could bring improvements through compatibility easier. Additionally, Samsung could offer new camera software powered by AI features (much like Google) to add some much-needed flavor.

How many cameras will the new Galaxy S24 have?

THE Galaxy S24 Ultra is said to come with four cameras on the back: main (wide), ultra-wide, 3X telephoto, and 5X telephoto. THE Galaxy S24 and the S24 Plus would come with three cameras on the back: main (wide), ultra-wide and a 3X telephoto lens, so without the second telephoto lens.

All Galaxy S24 models will also have an in-screen selfie camera.