Galaxy Note 20+ cameras could be a mixed bag, Ultra model sighted

With the disappointing market performance of the Galaxy S20 series and the uncertainty looming over expensive smartphones this year, it's only natural that interest around Samsung's next big flagship is quite big. Based on recent leaks, it seems that Samsung may actually scale back from the excesses it made on the Galaxy S20 Ultra but, as with any such retreat, there might be features that get dropped along the way.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is Samsung's most expensive "regular" smartphone which came at a time when the entire world's economy has been thrown into chaos. That price was partly because of a plethora of features, some of which were considered excessive. That was particularly seen in the cameras where the Galaxy S20 Ultra was still outranked by phones cheaper than it despite all the features.

There have been whispers about Samsung cutting back on some of that, particularly with its much-hyped and a bit overrated 100X Space Zoom. According to the latest word from Ice universe, the Galaxy Note 20+ will be limited to a maximum of 50X (maybe "Sky") zoom.

One other change, however, might not be completely seen as a plus. The same source says that the 3D Time-of-Flight sensor will be replaced by a laser autofocus sensor. That will definitely help in AF, an area where Samsung's phones have struggled a bit, but it could also mean that the Galaxy Note 20+ could have lower performance in bokeh simulation, a.k.a. portrait mode.

The good news is that, other than that, the Galaxy Note 20+ will still apparently have the same 108 megapixel ISOCELL HM1 Samsung introduced this year. There is also a recent sighting of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in a Bluetooth certification document, suggesting there might be three phones to choose from again in a few months.