Samsung Galaxy S7 to Have a 12 Megapixel Camera With Big Sensor Size? [Release Date, Specs, Features & Rumors]

Samsung seems to be discontented with its flagship smartphone's camera, if rumors are to be believed - and that's a good thing.

This unease, understandably, will lead to improved camera features in future iterations. With recent reports that the South Korean tech juggernaut has been doing camera talk with Sony and is mulling over packing the Galaxy S7 with a 12 MP camera having a big-sized sensor, it would seem fans of the brand have something worth looking forward to when the company releases its next flagship next year.

"A blog post on Weibo, from an account with an already established track record, mainly about upcoming chipsets and other hardware components, claims that Samsung is mulling a rehash of its phone camera strategy," Phone Arena noted. "Samsung is apparently planning to bet on much larger sensors with smaller resolution."

Currently, the S6 has a 16MP rear camera. Some whisperings about its successor indicated that the new model may have a 20MP shooter. However, in contradiction to this rumor, the company is now allegedly keen on equipping its snappers with larger sensors with smaller resolution, which "mean larger pixels and/or more space between pixels, which on theory will be able to collect more light with less crosstalk and signal distortion." Hence the 12MP resolution.

Previously, it was reported that Samsung wants to use the sensor Sony used in its Xperia Z5 line - the Exmor RS IMX300.

"The IMX300 features a 25-megapixel resolution and a very fast 192-point hybrid autofocus system," Android Authority said. "This is the same sensor that powers Sony's latest flagship Xperia Z5 range, which currently tops the DxOMark camera benchmark."

"Samsung isn't opposed to mixing and matching camera components in its smartphones. Both a Sony Exmor and the company's own Isocell sensors made their way into different Galaxy S6 batches, but specifications like resolution are matched to ensure consistent camera features across devices," the site added.

These reports have not yet been confirmed by Samsung or comes with solid evidence supporting its truth. As such, it's best to take these updates with a grain of salt for the meantime.

It's been widely speculated that the Galaxy S7 will be launched in January 2016, which is a month early, in order to get ahead of Apple.

With the disappointing sales figures the S6 is pulling, it would seem that Samsung needs to step up its game in order to get a hit in the S7 to reclaim their losses. What sort of improvements do you think the company should include in the upcoming model, then?

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