Samsung may ditch the 50MP sensor with Tetracell pixel-binning tech that it uses in phones like the Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 FE, or the Z Fold line, and use one of Sony’s up-and-coming sensors in its S-line instead, in a marked departure from its usual vertical integration. The tip that Samsung will switch it up to Sony camera sensors, however, is not for the upcoming Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ which will be released next month, likely still with Samsung sensors, but rather for their successors.
Galaxy S25 and S25+ Sony camera
Samsung usually shakes up its phone camera game significantly every third generation, so it’s not out of the question to envision big Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra camera upgrades. The eventual choice of Sony as supplier is not surprising, too, as it holds nearly half of all phone sensor market now with its varied offerings. The new LYTIA line of stacked mobile camera sensors with higher light sensitivity and better color reproduction that got announced in the summer, for instance, is already making its way into phones with a cameo on the OnePlus 12. It has a number of 50MP+ versions, each of which could make it into the Galaxy S25 and S25+ at a time when those Sony sensor prices may have already fallen sufficiently to make them competitive against Samsung’s own GN-line of sensors.
Sony LYTIA camera sensor roster
If Samsung is going with the new generation of Sony sensors for the cheaper models in the Galaxy S25 series, we’d wager to guess that it may go as far as a 1-inch 200MP sensor for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, a sensor that the same sources claims is already in development by Samsung. Unfortunately, this could also mean that the Galaxy S24 series camera upgrades will mainly be on the margins like the new telephoto camera sensors rumored for the S24 Ultra, but then again that was the only area that phone needs to address as Samsung’s zoom game is pretty much in beast territory already. Seeing what other camera beasts are coming to market, however, mainly from Oppo, Vivo, or OnePlus, Samsung will have to keep up with the Joneses.
