Galaxy S11 phones set to finally feature the camera hardware Samsung flagships deserve

Samsung's Galaxy S series is supposed to showcase the company's mobile technologies and it has done just that for a while. The S10⁠—and Note 10⁠—raised eyebrows for some of the hardware they featured, though. For one, they opted for 60 Hz displays even though OnePlus used Samsung-made QHD+ 90 Hz on the OnePlus 7 Pro. Also, they all stuck with 12 MP sensors even though Samsung had launched more powerful mobile sensors. That could change with the S11.

According to a new report, the Samsung Galaxy S11 could finally be the first Samsung flagship to sport Samsung's most powerful camera hardware. Apparently, the flagship will feature a 108 MP sensor. So far, the only 108 MP on the market is Samsung's own ISOCELL Bright HMX, which is a monster of a sensor. It debuted on the Mi Mix Alpha, so we already know it's viable.

The S11 is also said to be set to feature a periscope lens that'll grant it 5x optical zoom capabilities. We saw that on the Huawei P30 Pro and OPPO Reno already, and it'll be nice to see Samsung compete with Huawei on that end, especially seeing as the Note 10 is still stuck with 2x optical zoom.

While some claim that the smaller, traditional sensors are better than the trending high-res sensors, the fact remains that the 108 MP HMX is just all-around more powerful hardware. It's a huge sensor that's over thrice the size of the current 12 MP sensor on the S10. That means it'll be able to collect a lot more information. That may just be a worthy trade-off on whatever cons using a sensor of that size introduces.