Samsung’s 64-megapixel GW1 ISOCELL camera sensor will make its way to Android smartphones soon. The latest image shows that Xiaomi’s Redmi series will be the first to showcase it.
Industry tipster @Ice Universe tweeted this morning using an image from a Xiaomi Redmi phone that utilizes Samsung’s new 64MP camera sensor. The image features the words “Redmi’s first 64-megapixel photo,” followed by “Take a photo with your mobile phone and break into the 600,000 generations.” The image is that of a cat, with a zoom-in on the cat’s right eye (appears to the viewer on the left). The detail is evident for the eye as well as the cat fur surrounding it.
The name of the Redmi phone isn’t supplied, but we know that the Redmi phone series is a budget-friendly series from Xiaomi. Thus, Samsung’s new 64MP GW1 camera sensor will make its way to a budget-friendly handset from Xiaomi before arriving on a Samsung Galaxy handset. This is nothing new, for Ice Universe tweeted as much last month.
Samsung has developed this camera sensor for placement on a budget-friendly smartphone, not only with Xiaomi’s Redmi series but its own Galaxy A series being the first to see it. The upcoming Galaxy Note 10 flagship will not see the 64MP sensor this year, though the Galaxy S11 in 2020 could be the first Galaxy flagship to see the impressive camera sensor. The tweeted image says that the photo showcases Xiaomi’s first 64MP photo.
Samsung announced the 64MP ISOCELL GW1 sensor back in May. The “GW1” label indicates that this new 64MP sensor has one of the brightest camera resolutions in the industry. The other new ISOCELL sensor label, “GM2,” doesn’t provide as high a photo resolution (maxes out at 48MP). Both the ISOCELL GW1 and GM2 feature pixel sizes of 0.8 micrometers. The Gw1 uses Samsung’s Tetracell technology to combine four pixels into one large pixel. Thus, the 64MP sensor provides four 16MP photos and combines them to create one large photo.
The ISOCELL GW1 also has real-time HDR support, helping photos capture images as the human eye perceives them. In the Xiaomi Redmi image tweeted by Ice Universe, one can see the cat’s eye on the photo as the human eye perceives it in reality.
Samsung’s ISOCELL camera sensors are becoming a popular go-to for Android OEMs. Sony’s Exmor camera sensors have been the product of choice for many in the mobile phone industry over the years, including Samsung. Sony camera sensors were once a choice component in Apple’s iPhones, and even Samsung used Sony sensors exclusively.
Once Samsung started manufacturing its own ISOCELL sensors, the Korean juggernaut would mix ISOCELL and Exmor camera sensors in its Galaxy flagships. One example is found in the Galaxy S6, where Samsung used both its own and Sony camera sensors in the handset for customers in different regions worldwide.
Sony just announced its Xperia XZ4 with a 52MP camera back in February, but Samsung’s 64MP sensor in the Xiaomi Redmi budget series will top that impressive sensor.
While Samsung won’t be the first to utilize its own 64MP ISOCELL GW1 camera sensor, the company plans to debut it in its own Galaxy line with the Galaxy A70S.