Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s next flagship smartphone will bring the biggest camera upgrade in the history of the Galaxy S family, Bloomberg reported today.

The South Korean electronics giant is said to be readying a new rear camera for the upcoming Galaxy S11 with a resolution of 108 megapixels. For comparison, Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone 11 has a 12-megapixel primary camera.

That disparity won’t necessarily reflect fully in the sharpness of photos and videos since megapixel count is just one of the factors that influence image fidelity. But Samsung customers can likely still expect a major qualitative jump.

The S11’s high-resolution main shooter will reportedly be paired with three other rear cameras. Bloomberg’s tipsters said that there is an ultrawide-lens camera for taking panorama shots and a time-of-flight sensor designed to collect depth data. Information from time-of-flight sensors is useful, among others, for increasing the visual fidelity of augmented reality apps that overlay virtual content on photos.

The third rear camera that reportedly flanks the main lens is an optical zoom mechanism with a fivefold magnifying capacity. In addition to the S11, the optical zoom and the 108-megapixel primary camera will reportedly also show up in Samsung’s rumored successor to the Galaxy Fold. Leaks have suggested that the device is based on a clamshell design inspired by flip phones, a detail Samsung appeared to confirm with a brief video posted in October.

The S11 and the new foldable device are expected to debut in February. That month,  Samsung and other phone makers will converge on Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress, which typically sees a raft of new device launches.

Today’s report is the latest in a series of leaks about the S11. Other, earlier rumors suggest that the device will run on the 5G-enabled Snapdragon 865 processor Qualcomm Inc. unveiled this week and will feature a display with an unusually high 120-hertz refresh rate. 

Image: Samsung