Huge Galaxy S20 Ultra leak details cameras and features, reveals key specs

UPDATE: Max Weinbach, the person responsible for yesterday's Galaxy S20+ leak, has published some new information about the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Additionally, Ice Universe has detailed each smartphone's camera setup and XDA Developers has revealed some camera features. The updated story continues below.

Forget 50x digital zoom, Samsung's planning 100x hybrid zoom

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra won’t be anything close to cheap but it’s certainly going to be a beast. Today's report corroborates the presence of a powerful 108-megapixel main camera on the back of the phone.

It's expected to support pixel binning technology and looks set to offer a simply astonishing 100x hybrid zoom as part of a feature that could be marketed as 'Space Zoom.' The latter will be made possible by combining the sensor's data with that of the new 48-megapixel periscope camera, which itself is going to support an impressive 10x optical zoom.

For reference, the Huawei P30 Pro only supports up to 5x optical zoom and 10x hybrid zoom, which means Samsung’s new flagship will be able to zoom in much further while retaining a significantly higher level of quality. 

Most smartphones offer the option of going beyond the limits of hybrid zoom with digital zoom, which essentially crops down an image without software trickery. But Samsung is scrapping this feature on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, presumably because 100x zoom is more than enough for most people and the sole use of hybrid zoom will ensure better photos. 

Completing the camera setup will be a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a Time-of-Flight sensor.

The Galaxy S20/S20+ cameras and features

The smaller (and presumably cheaper) Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ are going to feature 6.2-inch and 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED displays, per today's information. These panels will also offer a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and a Quad-HD+ (3200x1440p) resolution. 

Due to the lack of space inside the phones and the smaller profit margins, Samsung is going to replace the 108-megapixel camera used on the Ultra-branded model with a slightly inferior but still very powerful 12-megapixel shooter. This should be coupled with a 2x telescope camera that boats a 64-megapixel resolution, which means support for the Space Zoom feature might not be present.

Samsung is, however, expected to carry over the 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. As for the Time-of-Flight sensor, that's allegedly being removed entirely on the Galaxy S20 but should still be present on the Galaxy S20+. Ishan Agarwal says there will also be a 10-megapixel selfie sensor on both phones. 

As for actual camera features, XDA claims to have found evidence that Samsung is working on 8K video recording at 30fps and a Pro Video mode. This will be paired with 4K 60fps complete with OIS and EIS video stabilization on both the front and rear. Whether 4K 60fps HDR video is supported, however, remains to be seen.

Samsung is also planning to add the zoom-in-mic feature from the Galaxy Note 10 series. It essentially means the phone can "zoom in" to audio as you zoom in on a certain subject. Another feature includes 'Smart Selfie Angle,' which detects how many people are in the frame and automatically switches to wide-angle mode if necessary.

Some of the more unique modes include 'Single Take Photo,' a feature that will let you automatically take photos and videos as you pan around with the phone. This also works for selfies and, once finished, will automatically recommended some of the best shots.

Other Samsung Galaxy S20 series specifications 

In North America, Samsung is going to fit its next-generation flagships with the powerful Snapdragon 865. Buyers residing in Europe, on the other hand, will have to settle for the arguably inferior Exynos 990.

Both chipsets will be paired with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage as standard, although other configurations should be available. In fact, the larger Galaxy S20 Ultra will be made available in 12/256GB and 16/512GB options too. All variants will also support microSD cards of up to 1TB. 

Keeping the lights on is going to be a 4,000mAh battery in the case of the Galaxy S20 and a 4,500mAh battery inside the Galaxy S20+. The massive Galaxy S20 Ultra, on the other hand, looks set to benefit from a huge 5,000mAh cell. 

Lastly, all smartphones will ship with Android 10 and One UI 2.1 pre-installed. Support for wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, and eSIM is to be expected alongside some sort of fast wired charging. In the case of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, it'll be 45W charging capable of charging the battery to 100% in just 74 minutes.