Samsung has something "Bright" planned for the zoom lens in the Galaxy S11, according to renowned leaker

Smartphone OEMs have been upping their camera game in recent years, whether it be Huawei with the first dedicated night mode or Google with its Night Sight and Astrophotography modes. Even Apple has brought a night mode to its latest iPhones so that just leaves Samsung to introduce a new camera innovation to its next flagships.

Do not get us wrong, Samsung rivals Sony for being one of the best smartphone camera manufacturers on the market, as we were recently reminded of with the 108 MP ISOCEL Bright HMX that debuted in the Mi Note 10 Pro. However, our reviews in recent years have demonstrated that Samsung flagships are due a big upgrade in their camera hardware, and the Galaxy S11 series could be the devices upon which the South Korean company bestows its most eye-catching camera hardware.

There have been rumours that the Galaxy S11 could feature the Bright HMX 108 MP sensor, but Samsung tends to reserve certain camera sensors for its flagships and licence others to third-parties. Hence, it seems unlikely at this stage that Samsung would allow Xiaomi to steal its thunder. Instead, we suspect that the South Korean company has something even bigger planned, which Dutch website LetsGoDigital may have uncovered.

According to a filing on the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), Samsung has patented the trademark "Bright Night Sensor", a camera sensor for use in smartphones. Some outlets have assumed that this will be the camera sensor in the S11 with the greatest volume of megapixels, but Ice Universe has hinted that that may not be the case.

Yesterday, the leaker clarified that the Galaxy S11+ would include a square opening for its optical zoom camera, disputing the CAD renders published by OnLeaks earlier this week. Ice Universe then followed its first tweet with a question about owning a "100x zoom phone", something that is currently beyond the realms of smartphone camera technology.

We have already seen Huawei achieve 50x digital zoom with the P30 Pro, the capabilities of which it initially demonstrated by posting a photograph of the moon online that it supposedly shot using a P30 Pro. You may be able to join the dots with our thinking here. If the Galaxy S11 has a high-resolution primary rear-facing camera sensor and a high-magnification zoom sensor, then it may be able to combine these into one long digital zoom, perhaps not to the 100x levels to which Ice Universe has hinted.