Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 looks likely to feature a 3D-enhanced camera

An industrial expansion indicates that Samsung’s next flagship phone will boast a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor for improved 3D imaging capabilities.

Kolen, a lens manufacturer, is significantly expanding its activities in Vietnam to meet growing demand from Samsung. South Korean source ETNews claims that this move was made especially for ToF sensors, which allow for better 3D camera imaging, something that appears very likely to feature on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 10 flagship phablet.

Related: Best smartphone

ToF sensors measure distance by timing the return of a pulse of infrared energy to each pixel of the sensor. This gives very accurate readings of the depth of an image, enabling you to create three-dimensional images or track facial movements closely.

ToF sensors are already present in the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G (both on the rear and the front-facing setup), so it would make perfect sense for the feature to be retained for the next Samsung flagship. It will be fascinating to see whether the sensor’s inclusion will allow full 3D face recognition, like the latest iPhones do.

From the rumours we’ve seen so far, the Galaxy Note 10 will have a fairly similar camera setup to the Galaxy S10.

However one important change, apart from the aforementioned inclusion of a ToF sensor, is the triple-stage variable aperture on the main camera. This newly introduced feature would allow the lens to shift between apertures of f/1.5, f/1.8, and f/2.4 depending on the amount of light in your surroundings, whereas previous cameras in series could only adjust between two aperture settings.

Related: Best camera phones

The two major competitors for the Galaxy Note 10 in the second half of 2019 will be the iPhone 11, and the Huawei Mate 30. Both of these devices will have stellar flagship qualities, so the Note 10 will have to pack something special to stay in the limelight. We’ll have to see if the inclusion of a ToF sensor is enough to put it above the rest of the pack.

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

author icon

Editorial independence

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

author icon

Professional conduct

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Trusted Reviews Logo

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Trusted Reviews delivered right to your inbox.

This is a test error message with some extra words