Renders allegedly reveal Samsung's first phone with a pop-up camera; 5G support not clear
Most of the phone manufacturers that used a pop-up selfie camera to deliver a phone with a high screen-to-body percentage have already moved on to punch-holes. Why? There are several reasons that we can think of including the fact that users are relying on a mechanical system. It also costs the manufacturers more money to design and it can collect dust and dirt that will be brought inside the phone by the mechanism. Using a pop-up selfie camera also makes a phone more vulnerable to water damage so phones with this feature typically do not sport an IP rating.
Render allegedly shows Samsung's first phone to sport a pop-up selfie camera
While pop-up selfie cameras are great for those purists who feel that a screen must be pristine, until under-display cameras are widely available (more on that later), the punch-hole camera has turned out to be the most popular implementation of the front-facing camera. They are small and take up very little real estate on the display, they can't get jammed like pop-up cameras, and they allow a manufacturer to promote an IP rating for a phone.
But it appears that someone forgot to give Samsung the memo. Pigtou and @OnLeaks shared a render today allegedly showing a new smartphone from Samsung that will include a pop-up selfie snapper. The guess is that this device will be part of Samsung's very successful mid-range Galaxy A line. Back in February 2019, tipster Ice Universe passed along a rumor that the Galaxy A90 would be Samsung's first handset equipped with a pop-up camera, but that turned out not to be the case. Samsung might have decided to delay using the technology until now. It should be pointed out that none of Samsung's latest flagship phones have a pop-up selfie snapper, opting for punch-holes instead.
Render allegedly shows Samsung's first smartphone to sport a pop-up selfie camera
The report from Pigtou says that the phone will have a 6.5-inch notchless display (and an IR blaster on the top), triple-camera setup on the back, a full-screen design, and a fingerprint scanner on the rear panel. The bottom of the device features the usual USB-C port, a noise-canceling microphone, and the speaker grille. Sorry, but there is no 3.5mm headphone jack on this model. The dimensions of the phone are 183.5mm x 77mm width x 9.2mm thick. With a bit of a bump on the rear due to the camera module, the latter measurement rises to 9.7mm.
This render allegedly shows a Samsung Galaxy A mid-ranger with a pop-up selfie camera
The mid-range Galaxy A line has been a big winner for Samsung with affordable pricing, viable cameras, and large battery capacities. First launched in India during March 2019, the line generated sales of over 5 million units, valued at more than $1 billion, during the first 70 days. Eventually, Samsung started offering the phones globally with some models available through U.S. carriers.
The next generation of selfie cameras will be found under the display. Putting the necessary sensors under the screen will allow manufacturers to eliminate notches and punch-holes to provide consumers with a pristine display without having to rely on a mechanical solution. Last June, Chinese phone manufacturer Oppo revealed an in-display camera followed the next day by Xiaomi. Earlier this month, Ice Universe disseminated a tweet stating that Samsung is considering the deployment of an under-screen camera for next year's Galaxy S21 (or will it be Galaxy S30?) series. If this is to be the case, we certainly will hear more about this over the coming months. Remember, the current Galaxy S20 flagship line has been on the shelves for less than two months.
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