Galaxy S23 gets 2x optimized zoom with Camera Assistant update

Samsung has released a new update to the Camera Assistant app. It brings a new zoom option to the Galaxy S23 series. According to the changelog, after installing the new Camera Assistant update, Galaxy S23 series phones can access the optimized 2x zoom option in the Photo mode in the stock camera app.

The new Camera Assistant update with version 1.1.03.1 has been released, and it is available via the Galaxy Store. The changelog mentions that the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra now feature a dedicated 2x zoom toggle in the stock Camera app. However, the phones would need to be updated to the August 2023 security patch to use the new camera feature. To activate this feature, open the Camera Assistant app and enable the Optical Quality Crop Zoom feature.

While you could already use any zoom value up to 30x on the Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy S23+ and up to 100x on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, the new 2x zoom option is an optimized version. It comes by on-sensor cropping using the primary camera sensor on the phones. Samsung says that its quality should be similar to a native optical zoom lens (similar to 3x and 10x zoom cameras).

There have been talks about this feature for a few months now, and Samsung has finally released it today. It gives users more options and flexibility to use the camera. The Galaxy S23 series has already received the first One UI 6.0 beta update, and it should be running the stable version by early Q4 2023.