A new rumor indicates that the Samsung Galaxy A90 will feature a sliding and rotating camera setup, which allows the smartphone’s main shooter to function as both the front-facing and rear-facing camera.
Earlier leaks claim that the Galaxy A90 will feature a pop-up selfie camera, similar to the front-facing shooter setup of the Vivo NEX. However, the latest rumor suggests that the sliding camera of the upcoming mid-range smartphone offering from Samsung will more likely resemble the configuration implemented by the OPPO Find X, combined with what the OPPO N1 brought back in 2013.
This essentially means that not only will the camera slide out as a front-facing / rear-facing camera (we’re not sure which one will it default to), but it will be able to rotate 180 degrees to serve as both the main camera and a selfie camera when it’s out, as needed. That sounds a bit odd, but… we’ll have to wait and see if there’s any truth there.
Samsung launching experimental camera features with its mid-range Galaxy A handsets is not exactly new. The Galaxy A9 (2018), which the South Korean tech giant unveiled November last year, is the world’s first quad-camera smartphone, and it featured four vertically-arranged rear-facing cameras, which included the primary shooter, a wide-angle sensor, an ultra-wide-angle imaging module, and a depth sensor.
The introduction of the sliding camera setup with the Galaxy A90 allows Samsung to offer a much cleaner front panel design that does not include display notches or punch holes. In contrast, some of the most recent devices released by the South Korean tech giant, including the Galaxy A30 and the Galaxy A50, used either the Infinity-V, Infinity-U, or Infinity-O designs. The Infinity-V and the Infinity-U panel design features a notch located above the display, while the Infinity-O display sports punch-holes placed near the corner of the smartphone’s screen.
The Galaxy A90 is one of the devices that Samsung may launch as part of the revamped Galaxy A mid-range series. Aside from the Galaxy A90, A30, and A50, rumors claim that the Galaxy A lineup will also include the Galaxy A10, A40, and A70 handsets.
Limited information is available about the specifications of the Galaxy A90, although given that the Galaxy A9 (2018) still featured mid-range internals despite its quad rear-camera setup, it is possible that the Galaxy A90 will also sport mid-range hardware.
However, Samsung’s branding of the device suggests that the rumored smartphone offering will include more powerful or more premium specifications compared to other handsets in the Galaxy A series like the Galaxy A30 and the Galaxy A50.
There is little information available about the availability and the pricing of the Galaxy A90, although this new leak corroborates with earlier rumors that suggest that Samsung will include a unique camera setup with its upcoming mid-range offering.
Furthermore, aside from providing a cleaner front panel design, the sliding and rotating camera allows Samsung to use the same sensor technologies for both selfies and regular images, which will permit the handset to offer the same quality for photographs captured by the device. However, some observers may raise questions about the durability and longevity of the sliding camera, and consumers may only observe these characteristics once they get a hold of the handset.