A new rumour has it that the Samsung Galaxy S20 will feature a ‘periscope’ camera that offers 100x zoom – but is there a catch?
According to Twitter tipster Ishan Agarwal, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G will be capable of 100x digital zoom. This news might come as some consolation to fans disappointed by the news that the telephoto lens on the Samsung Galaxy S20 is only set to have an optical zoom of 5x rather than the 10x that had been previously rumoured. However, digital zoom is not lossless, so image resolution will suffer when the effect is applied.
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This image accurately represents how the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G Camera setup looks like! It will be dual shade (grey matte like + black), and it honestly looks good (better than what I tried to make here lol). Yeah, 100X would be printed besides Periscope Camera. pic.twitter.com/YwbYWZmvyg
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) January 18, 2020
The 100x digital zoom is an arresting figure, so there’s no wonder that Samsung are set to imprint it on the device next to the camera – but how does it compare its rivals? The closest competition looks to come courtesy of the Huawei P30 Pro, which had a maximum digital zoom of 50x.
In our review of the P30 Pro we judged that this ability was “best avoided” due to the lack of detail, but we were very impressed with its 10x hybrid digital zoom, which we judged as “not quite ‘lossless’ but certainly usable for social media”. Will Samsung’s next flagship better that assessment?
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There’s been a flurry of recent leaks on the S20 so far, with this rumour just being one of the latest to have emerged. The telephoto sensor under discussion is expected to have a 12-megapixel resolution, while other cameras reportedly include a 12-megapixel primary camera, a 64-megapixel secondary snapper, and a Time of Flight sensor.
Other rumoured specifications extend to a 120Hz display refresh rate on a screen of 6.7-inches, a 4500mAh battery with 25W fast-charging, and an Exynos 990 processor with 12GB of RAM. 5G versions of the handset will certainly be available, but as of yet it doesn’t appear to be the default specification for the whole range.
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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.
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.
