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Galaxy S20 camera samples leak, showing new night mode and zoom features

Published Feb 10th, 2020 7:31AM EST

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Samsung will unveil two new phones later this week, including the Z Flip clamshell foldable that’s already being advertised on TV, and the Galaxy S20 series, which comes in three sizes, all of them featuring 120Hz displays and 5G connectivity. If you’ve been following the flood of Galaxy S20 leaks in the past few weeks, you already know this is going to be Samsung’s best phone. It’ll feature a Galaxy Note 10-like design, and even more powerful specs than its predecessors. The camera experience is also going to get several upgraded features, with the S20 Ultra expected to deliver the best camera ever seen on a Galaxy S phone so far. All three phones will feature up to quad-lens cameras on the back, although it’s the Ultra that’s supposed to feature a 108-megapixel primary camera, as well as a periscope zoom lens on the back. We’ve known these details for weeks, but what we didn’t have at the time, to back all these leaks up, were camera samples. With just a few hours to go until Samsung’s Unpacked 2020 event, Galaxy S20 camera samples leaked as well.

Well-known leaker Max Weinbach, who shared some of the biggest Galaxy S20 leaks last month, took to Twitter to share photos taken with the Galaxy S20. It’s not the S20 Ultra’s camera, however, responsible for the following images.

Here’s what 30x digital zoom looks like on the handset. We have plenty of noise and distortion, but that’s probably as good as it gets with 30x. It’ll be interesting to see what the Ultra can do with its 100x zoom camera.

The following sets of images show the Galaxy S20’s night mode capabilities compared to last years’ Galaxy S10. As you can easily see, the new phones will do a much better job in low-light photography. The photos are a lot brighter, capturing better details with fewer artifacts. They also look like they were taken in a better-lit environment, slightly distorting reality. This appears to be a lot like Google’s own night mode from the Pixel 4.

Finally, Weinbach also posted a comparison between the two phones that highlight their wide-angle capabilities:

Samsung will explain all of the Galaxy S20’s new camera features on stage on Tuesday, as well as the phones’ rumored new video recording modes — video samples aren’t available for the time being.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.