A 324 megapixel phone camera on phones? Leak says Samsung is ready

Before we dive into this tantalizing, incredibly ambitious leak, grab the biggest dose of skepticism possible. Did I understand? Let’s get into it. According to a new leak, Samsung is preparing a camera sensor with a staggering 324 megapixel resolution that could appear in a flagship phone two years from now.

According to leakster Sanju Choudhary, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be equipped with the internal ISOCELL HR1 sensor that offers a 324MP output. This is the largest smartphone megapixel sensor we’ve come across, eclipsing it the 200-megapixel units that Samsung currently supplies.

The 324 MP camera will have a 1/1.2 inch sensor. Now, note that Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed any plans to make sensors past the 200MP mark. However, this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard rumors that Samsung’s ISOCELL division is up to something really crazy.

The S26 Ultra could use the 324MP 1/1.2″ (Hexa² pixel) ISOCELL HR1 as its main sensor.
The 3x telephoto sensor will have a 50MP sensor.

Thoughts?? pic.twitter.com/kMjXaDjBjl

— Sanju Choudhary (@saaaanjjjuuu) October 25, 2024

“Production has not started yet. But development is almost complete according to sources,” Choudhary exclusively told Digital Trends. He further told us that the company is also working on an even bigger 432MP camera sensor.

Late last year, another leak mentioned plans for a 320MP camera module being developed at Samsung. But the leak didn’t stop there. It also mentioned an even more ridiculous 440MP camera sensor, more than double the resolution of the best the smartphone industry currently has to offer.

Now, according to the latest dump in leakland, the upcoming 324MP ISOCELL sensor would likely perform two consecutive pixel separation cycles involving six adjacent pixel units each time.

For those who don’t know, large camera sensors rely on a process called pixel binning that combines adjacent pixels (in formats like 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4) to create a larger super-pixel capable of collecting more light data in order to produce more detailed photos. In some cases, the process takes place twice.

Take Samsung’s ISOCELL HP2 sensor for example, which comes in at 200MP in its native state. In the first stage of tetra cell collection, it produces 50 MP photos. It can also do another round of binning to produce images that have an effective resolution of 12.5MP.

Chaudhary tells me that both the 324MP and 432MP sensors under development at Samsung will follow the double hex binning format. He also mentioned that the former offers 0.52 micron pixels. The latter, however, will go with an even bigger sensor. On a side note, the 200MP sensor inside The Galaxy S23 Ultra already delivers fantastic results.

These numbers might sound ridiculous, but Samsung is apparently quite serious about progress. Back in 2021 at the SEMI Europe Summit, a Samsung executive highlighted plans to push a 576MP sensor by 2025. Assuming Samsung is serious about that goal, we may be just a few months away from seeing a 576MP smartphone camera sensor (via Digital Photography Magazine).

When I expressed my skepticism about Samsung’s approach to developing ridiculously pixel-dense camera sensors, Chaudhary agreed that adoption would indeed be a problem, especially from the perspective of the costs involved and the optimization required to achieve results from such heavy sensors.

But how far are we from seeing the 324MP camera sensor? “The development of 324-megapixel sensors is about to be ready,” Choudhary reiterated, adding that he is “quite confident” about developments from Samsung.

Meanwhile, I have already seen the alleged renders of the Galaxy S25 Ultraas well as some of its potential internal upgrades. It looks like a design refresh is on the way, with a serious increase in firepower from the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite system on a chip.

Samsung’s next Unpacked event is likely to take place in January, and hopefully we’ll see a lot more than Galaxy S25 series smartphones at the festive launch party.