Moto & Xiaomi to use Samsung 200MP camera before Samsung

(Pocket-lint) – With system-on-chip (SoC) platforms ever-improving, the option for higher-spec cameras is becoming an increasing reality for flagship devices. Samsung is making a 200-megapixel sensor, that we already know, but it’s allegedly not going to first appear in a Samsung handset.

Nope, that accolade is likely to go to Motorola or Xiaomi first, according to reputed leakster Ice Universe, who stated the following on Twitter:

200MP camera will be adopted by Moto first, then by Xiaomi in the second half of next year, and by 2023, Samsung will adopt 200MP.

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) November 24, 2021

Part of this race will be down to the implementation of new SoCs. We’ve already had the reveal of MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000, which can support resolutions up to 320-megapixels, while Qualcomm is expected to reveal its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 platform in the first week of December. Samsung will likely use a split of the latter, plus its own Exynos platform for its Korean and Asia territory phone releases.

Precisely which handset will be the first to boast of a 200-megapixel camera is up for debate. Xiaomi tends to be quick out of the blocks in late December, so there’s still the possibility that the 12 Ultra will house this sensor (although we think that’s unlikely at this stage, as it’s just too soon). Moto’s position: it’d have to be top-end, so a new flagship Edge handset in the middle of 2022 perhaps?

The other question is ‘why a 200MP sensor anyway?’. Well, it’s less about the out-and-out resolution and more about the potential of what more pixels can offer. The Samsung sensor, named ISOCELL HP1, can not only handle 8K video recording, but with so many pixels it will open the door to enhanced high dynamic range (HDR) and various pixel binning possibilities (16-in-1 delivering 12.5-megapixel results as the default).

It’s increasingly likely that we’ll see this new sensor in a prototype device at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit, so will be sure to give that device a whirl should it show face. More information in early December is our best guestimate.