Future Galaxy phones could tap into Olympus for improved camera tech - Android

Big changes could be on the way for Samsung's camera hardware

What you need to know

• A new rumor suggests Samsung and Olympus have partnered on a new camera sensor.
• The sensor could be included as soon as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 or pushed to the Galaxy S22.
• This camera would feature technology similar to Apple's 'Sensor Shift' lens from the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

With the Pixel 5 featuring years-old camera hardware, the Samsung Galaxy S21 family has come close to taking over the top spot for the best Android camera. In some respects, the S21 has overtaken the Pixel, only leaving the iPhone 12 Pro Max as the two big dogs for best smartphone camera overall. However, it seems that Samsung is gearing up to bring some new technology to either the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 or next year's Galaxy S22.

A new rumor has been making its rounds, courtesy of Yogesh (via XDA Developers), suggesting that Samsung and Olympus have partnered up for a new camera lens that could be coming soon. The rumor was then corroborated by notorious leaker IceUniverse, and then by GalaxyClub. According to Yogesh, Olympus was the first to spark talks about working with Samsung on a future camera sensor, and the companies are reportedly working on a deal.

As for what you should expect, this new camera lens would feature technology similar to Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max. Sensor-Shift was introduced with the 12 Pro Max on its wide-angle camera lens. With this technology, the camera sensor is stabilized instead of the lends itself, which provides better image quality, along with much-improved stabilization.

If Olympus and Samsung are indeed currently in talks for a partnership, this wouldn't be the first time a phone maker and camera maker have worked together. Most recently, Hasselblad teamed up with OnePlus on the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, and more notably, we have seen Huawei partner with Leica for its cameras.

If early reports are to be believed, Samsung could be launching both the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 2 as early as July. This could potentially make it difficult to add a new camera sensor to the Z Fold 3, as the device is likely already in its final stages before being sent into mass production. However, Yogesh suggests that we could see a "special edition Fold", or that the camera could be included next year with the Galaxy S22.