The Galaxy Z Fold 5 uses a relatively medium-size 1/1.56″ 50MP sensor. It’s the Samsung GN3 sensor, but it’s not flagship-grade. Samsung has industry-leading image processing, and they salvage the best out of this hardware. The results from the Z Fold 5 remain crisp, with good details and respectable lens compression.
However, other companies are beginning to pull ahead. The Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 has a larger 1/1.49″ primary sensor. It has a 3.2X and 5X periscope- a better overall zoom solution than the Z Fold 5. The Fold 5 only uses one tiny ~1/3.94″ 10MP sensor for 3X optical zoom. Software heavily compensates for lacking hardware, but good software combined with good hardware is even better.
The Google Pixel Fold has a 1/3.1″ 10.8MP 5X periscope camera, and that’s much better hardware for zoom. However, the primary sensor is tiny at just 1/2″. The upcoming innovative foldable phone from OnePlus will have a very ambitious camera setup. It has a 1/2″ 48MP ultra-wide, a larger 1/1.4″ 50MP primary sensor, and a large 1/2″ 64MP 3X periscope. To keep up with the competition, Samsung is now working on a new primary sensor for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, though that’s still two years away.
According to a leaker on X, RG CloudS, the new 50MP sensor is a successor to the current GN3 or GN5 sensors. It’s still similar to those in size but brings notable upgrades. We can compare it to the upgrades between the Sony IMX766 and the Sony IMX890. They’re the same size and megapixels, but the 890 has better colors and dynamic range.
Similarly, Samsung is working on a successor to the 1/1.56″ 50MP GN5 sensor. It’ll have a similar 1/1.57″ size and a 50MP resolution. 1.0ฮผm is the effective pixel size.
The sensor uses a new technology that uses two photodiodes, which detect light from multiple directions more effectively. The sensor can focus quickly in low light. The 0.5ฮผm pitch refers to the distance between the two photodiodes in each pixel. This is a minimal distance, which allows the sensor to have a high resolution. The way these photodiodes are isolated from each other. This reduces digital noise as well. 0.5ฮผm pitch refers to the distance between two photodiodes, which is very small.
Samsung is allegedly skipping the Z Fold 6 name. You don’t have to wait till 2026 for the Z Fold, which will use this new sensor. After the Z Fold 5, we’ll get the Z Fold 7 in 2024- and it’s apparently a massive upgrade. Unfortunately, we don’t know the specifics yet. Eventually, Samsung could bring this sensor down to their S25 and S25 Plus or even the S24.
It apparently has the same Full Well Capacity as the IMX 989, and despite the smaller size, it can apparently rival 1″ sensors. It can apparently capture the same amount of details as the HP2 sensor, which is a bold claim from the leaker. Since this is very early information, we advise taking it with a pinch of salt until we get more news about this new sensor.
