The Galaxy S26 Ultra arrived without camera hardware changes | Image by PhoneArena
According to the latest rumor, the Galaxy S27 Ultra might miss out on Samsung's most advanced mobile camera sensor. The new cutting-edge 200MP sensor is apparently going to make its debut not on the next Samsung flagship, but on a completely different phone, Android Headlines reports.
Samsung's new 200MP LOFIC sensor
The information is coming from one of the most reliable Chinese leakers in the industry in the past couple of years — DigitalChatStation. The tipster posted on Weibo (translated from Chinese): "Exclusive Foresight: Next-Generation Evaluation Material HPA, 200Mp 1/1.12" LOFIC"
These HPA, 200MP, and 1/1.12" specs point toward Samsung’s upcoming ISOCELL HPA sensor with LOFIC tech on board. It's a nearly 1-inch mobile camera sensor, and LOFIC stands for Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor.
How important is for you to get the latest camera tech on your flagship phone?
Omnivision's TheiaCel employs LOFIC tech | Image by Omnivision
This technology is aimed at vastly improving dynamic range by adding a hardware element to the pixels inside the camera sensor. When a pixel inside a camera sensor is exposed to a very bright light, the photodiode element fills up to its maximum capacity, so to speak, and anything in excess spills out and creates blown-out highlights, messing with dynamic range.
LOFIC adds a capacitor to every pixel in the camera sensor that acts like an "overflow tank." If the signal is too strong for the photodiode, any excess is routed to the capacitor. The values are later read both from the photodiode and from the capacitor and combined to create one single value for each pixel.
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The Galaxy S27 Ultra won't get the new LOFIC sensor
Oppo flagships often get the latest and greatest camera tech | Image by PhoneArena
According to industry experts, Samsung won't use its newest and most advanced camera sensor in the upcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra flagship. Instead, the sensor will most likely appear on the Oppo Find X10 Ultra, as DigitalChatStation writes on his Weibo post.
The main reason might have something to do with the conservative approach employed by Samsung when it comes to camera tech. The company rarely equips the latest tech to its own flagships and prefers to supply Chinese phones to act as a testbed for the new tech.
The Galaxy S27 Ultra camera system
We expect some upgrades to the S27 Ultra camera system, but no LOFIC | Image by PhoneArena
The latest rumors suggest that the Galaxy S27 Ultra will use the ISOCELL HP6, which is another 200 MP, 1/1.3-inch sensor rumored to be developed exclusively for the flagship. Samsung might also ditch the 3X 10MP telephoto camera or swap it with a larger sensor one with bigger magnification. Details are scarce at the moment.
As for the Oppo Find X10 Ultra, it's more than a year away. The X9 was announced in China last month, so the next model is not coming out anytime soon.
The next Chinese camera phone that could utilize this new HPA LOFIC sensor is the Vivo X500 Ultra, but we'll have to wait and see.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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