Galaxy S22 to get 200MP Olympus camera and January 2022 launch

Once Samsung gets done with the August 11 launch of its new foldables, all eyes will then be on the company's next flagship series. Since there won't be a new Galaxy Note lineup in 2021, the Galaxy S22 series will be the next set of flagships from Samsung.

It's silly season in the rumor mill with all sorts of claims flying around. The latest suggests that a 200-megapixel Olympus-branded camera will be onboard. January 2022 is when the Galaxy S22 launch might take place.

200MP camera and the S Pen are expected for the Galaxy S22

Citing multiple industry sources, a Korean publication is claiming that the Galaxy S22 launch will take place in January 2022. That's not an outrageous claim. The Galaxy S21 series was unveiled in January last year and went on sale the same month. So a January launch would make sense.

The other claim is a bit out there. Apparently, the Galaxy S22 Ultra will have a 200-megapixel camera with the five-lens camera system carrying the Olympus branding. For those who are unaware, Olympus is a Japanese manufacturer of cameras and optical technology known globally for its high quality. A potential Samsung-Olympus collaboration was first floated about three months ago.

Smartphone manufacturers teaming up with big professional camera brands is not unheard of. It would be the first time that Samsung does something like this. Some even suggest that it was actually Olympus that approached Samsung with the idea of working jointly on smartphone camera technology.

Whether or not Samsung actually needs Olympus is another matter. Samsung used to make its own professional-grade mirrorless cameras. It's also leading the way in smartphone camera technology. So a collaboration with Olympus might be beneficial from a marketing standpoint more than a technological one.

This isn't the first time we're hearing about the Galaxy S22 Ultra possibly featuring a 200-megapixel sensor. A recent report actually claimed that Samsung had given up on the idea. The Galaxy S22 Ultra was to feature Samsung's third-generation 108MP ISOCELL HM3 sensor instead. It appears that at least some still believe that the 200MP camera remains a possibility.

Lastly, this report also claims that the Galaxy S22 Ultra is going to have S Pen support. The Galaxy S21 Ultra has it as well. So we can expect Samsung to maintain the status quo here.