Samsung Galaxy S11 tipped to feature next-gen 108MP image sensor

How we got here: Samsung earlier this year announced its ISOCELL Bright HMX camera sensor in collaboration with Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi. This mind-bending 108-megapixel image sensor could usher in a new era of smartphone photography and we won’t have to wait much longer to see what it is capable of.

Mobile tipster Ice Universe on Twitter claims there is a “high probability” that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S11 smartphone will feature “a new” 108-megapixel sensor. It’s unclear if the leaker is referring to the previously announced 108-megapixel sensor or quite literally a newer variant.

Samsung typically releases its Galaxy S phones in early March which would put it about four months out from today. When it was announced over the summer, Samsung said the 1/1.33-inch sensor would utilize pixel-merging Tetracell technology to combine four pixels into one, effective boosting low-light performance. The sensor is also capable of recording lossless video at 6K ((6,016 x 3,384 resolution) at 30fps.

We won’t have to wait until early next year to see what the sensor is all about. Xiaomi is launching the Mi CC9 Pro smartphone tomorrow that comes equipped with this very same sensor.

Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into a camera system than the sensor itself and as you should know by now, megapixel count isn’t always the most important part of the equation. There are plenty of cameras out there with high megapixel counts that flat out stink in terms of image quality. Let’s hope this isn’t one of them.