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We’ve been hearing for months that the main – and perhaps only – camera update on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be a new 200MP main sensor, but now a leak suggests we could see improvements to the other two rear lenses as well.
Seemingly official leather cases for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are being sold on German eBay (opens in a new tab) – as noted by the leaker SnoopyTech (opens in a new tab) – and at first glance, they look like they fit the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
However @UniverseIce (opens in a new tab) – another leaker – posted a photo of one of these next to an equivalent case for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and there are some distinct differences.
In addition to the power and volume buttons being slightly lower in the new cases, the three largest cutouts for the camera lens are larger than those of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Assuming the cameras are positioned the same way on the S23 Ultra, that means the main lens, ultra wide-angle lens, and periscope lens could all be larger this year.
For the main camera, this is not a surprise as reports suggest it goes from a 108MP sensor to a new 200MP, but for the secondary sensors, we will again see a 12MP ultra wide-angle camera and a 10MP periscope, with 10x optical zoom.
Of course, we can still see these things. These housing images may be inaccurate, and even if they’re right, there’s a good chance Samsung just increased the size of the other lenses to make them more uniform without actually improving the cameras on the back. However, it gives us hope that there may be some unknown improvements.
Analysis: With or without additional upgrades, the S23 Ultra will be the camera phone to beat in 2023
While we’d love to see Samsung make significant improvements to the ultra wide and telephoto lenses on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, even without those things, it’s likely to be the best camera phone in the world when it launches.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is currently at the top of our best camera phone list, so if Samsung really doesn’t drop the ball with this supposed 200MP sensor, the Galaxy S23 Ultra will likely take its place at the top of the list.
Samsung’s zoom photography is already way ahead of the competition, so the company probably doesn’t have much incentive to upgrade telephoto lenses right now, and with four lenses to play with, the S22 Ultra is already a more versatile camera phone than most flagships.
So while these case photos give us hope that we’ll see some additional improvements to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s cameras, there’s a good chance we won’t, and that won’t stop it from being the ultimate camera phone.
Still, if there are minimal updates, it gives the iPhone 15 and other expected phones a chance to catch up.
