Rumor: Samsung calls Galaxy S11 camera ‘Hubble’ and zoom function ‘Space Zoom’

Rumors have surfaced about the camera of the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S10 series. The manufacturer would internally refer to the camera as ‘Hubble’ and would like to use a feature it refers to as ‘Space Zoom’.

The application, posted on the EU Intellectual Property Network site, describes Space Zoom as ‘software to zoom in on a subject without degrading image quality’. According to SamMobile, this is a camera with a periscopic design and ‘5x zoom’ compared to the primary camera. That is also in the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom and Huawei P30 Pro. Huawei has a ‘Moon Mode’ feature.

Periscopic camera. Source: Oppo

A periscopic camera in a smartphone has a mirror and has the option of placing the sensor in the smartphone at an angle of 90 degrees. A camera with such a narrow angle of view has a longer focal length than fits in the thickness of a smartphone. The periscopic cameras from Oppo and Huawei can be recognized by the square lens; all other smartphone cameras have round lenses.

Samsung would like to refer to the camera system as Hubble, a clear reference to the space telescope that has been taking pictures of things in space for almost 30 years and sending them back to Earth. In addition to the camera with telephoto lens, Samsung would also like to use a primary camera with 1/1.33″ sensor. That is almost three times the size of the sensor of the primary camera on the Galaxy S10. The resolution is 108 megapixels. Xiaomi Mi Note 10 presented this week is the first to have a 108-megapixel camera on board.

Samsung has not commented on the rumours. The manufacturer usually presents its Galaxy S phones at the end of the winter, in February or March.