Samsung might bring a game-changing camera upgrade to future Galaxy phones
Galaxy S24 Ultra with Moment Wide 18mm lens. | Image credit – Moment
If you’ve ever wished your phone could swap lenses like a DSLR, you are not alone and Samsung might be getting ready to make that happen. A newly published patent suggests the company is exploring a modular camera system with attachable lenses.
Drawings from Samsung's patent. | Image credit – Samsung
Vivo offers a detachable ~9x zoom lens for its X200 Ultra. | Image credit – Vivo
Samsung’s future take on modular lenses might include a rotating ring built into the lens itself – possibly for manual zoom control, though that is just speculation for now. Once attached, the phone could recognize the lens using a built-in magnet or even something like an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag to identify which lens is connected. There are a few ways the company could approach it.
Also, based on the patent, the lens assembly appears to be built-in, setting it apart from third-party solutions like the Moment Lens shown in the cover image. I mean, it would be great if these attachable lenses could work without needing a special case but that is probably a stretch, especially if Samsung wants the lenses to be compatible with multiple devices.
However, if it is made for just one model or a new lineup, Samsung could tweak the phone design to make everything fit perfectly. But going the accessory route – like Vivo did – seems more realistic.
Of course, this is all based on a patent for now. So yeah, it might never happen. But the exciting part? It just might.
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