Want great cameras? Then you should wait for the Samsung Galaxy S25

These could be sensor sensations

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We’re likely less than two months away from the launch of theSamsung Galaxy S24series, but if you’re not in a hurry to upgrade just yet, it could be worth waiting for theSamsungGalaxy S25 – especially if photography is your focus.

We’re already hearing about these phones (which probably won’t land before January 2025), and according to leaker@Tech_Reve, the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus will have new primary cameras.

Reportedly, they’ll use aSonysensor, rather than the 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN3 that’s used by theSamsung Galaxy S23andSamsung Galaxy S22. Now, @Tech_Reve doesn’t say what this Sony sensor is, but they sound very positive about it, so it should be an upgrade.

Great news: The S25 and S25+ will no longer use the dreadful GN3 sensor; instead, they will feature Sony’s image sensor. I’m very happy! https://t.co/P6pxMEmyMlDecember 3, 2023

That said, there could be even better news for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, because the same sourceclaims in a separate postthat there’s a 200MP 1-inch sensor coming from Samsung. This time though, they’re unclear about which phone it’s headed to, so it might be even further out than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

We’d think it’s way too early for leaks about the Samsung Galaxy S26 and beyond though, so the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is our best guess (since that’s the most viable candidate for such a sensor in the next couple of years).

For reference, theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultraalready has a 200MP camera, but it’s got a much smaller 1/1.3-inch sensor. A larger sensor would let more light in, which should lead to improved photos, particularly in sub-optimal lighting conditions.

Software over hardware

As for theSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, that will probably have the same main camera as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, from what we’ve heard so far, and it might only have half the optical zoom distance of the S23 Ultra, so this doesn’t sound like the phone for camera fans.

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Indeed, leaks suggest there won’t be a huge number of upgrades to any aspect of the hardware in the Samsung Galaxy S24 line; with Samsung’s focus likely being more on software – and specifically AI. That could be reason enough to upgrade, if AI excites you, but this early leak suggests the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will rank much higher among thebest camera phoneswhen it does eventually arrive.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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