Samsung's flagship smartphones have some of the best zoom photography chops. The Galaxy S Ultra flagships, in particular, blow everything else out of the water, including Samsung's $1799 foldables (which have the same zoom capabilities as a $500 phone like the Galaxy A72).
Right now, Samsung mostly uses Sony's sensors for zoom cameras on its flagships, but it's possible the company will switch to its in-house ISOCELL sensors in the near future: Samsung has requested protection of the trademarks Isocell Zoom and Isocell Zoom Pro in the UK.
Samsung's making sensors called Isocell Zoom and Isocell Zoom Pro
Samsung ISOCELL sensors have been around for a long time. And while previous Galaxy S flagships have used a mix of Sony and Samsung image sensors, the Galaxy S23 Ultra exclusively uses Samsung's 200-megapixel ISOCELL sensor. But Samsung has never added the term ‘zoom' to the names of ISOCELL sensors before.
It leads us to wonder if these new trademark applications are hinting at a somewhat different zoom camera setup on the Galaxy S24 series, particular the Galaxy S24 Ultra. There have been rumors that the S24 Ultra could get a single zoom camera with 150x zoom and variable zoom capability, and Samsung wanting to trademark fancy new ISOCELL sensor names only serves to support the possibility of the company changing things around with its next flagship.
Unfortunately, all that is speculation that may or may not pan out. Trademark applications are not always an indication that the related products or components will make their way to a commercial device in the near future, so we will have to wait for more information before coming to any conclusions.
