Samsung's next camera innovation could be a Galaxy S9 throwback

It’s been rumored for months that next year’s iPhone Pro models could incorporate a camera with a variable aperture, a feature Samsung’s Galaxy S9 phones offered way back in 2018. Now, a new rumor says that, to keep up with Apple, the dominant Android manufacturer might revisit the idea in the future.

According to a post by Digital Chat Station on Weibo (spotted by Wccftech), Samsung is currently testing variable aperture designs based on the assumption that next year’s iPhones will feature similar tech.

A camera’s aperture is the opening under the surface of its lens that light passes through before reaching the sensor. A wider aperture lets in more light, making for brighter photos. Narrower apertures let in less light, but also create photos with a deeper depth of field where more of what the camera captures is in focus.

Lenses for dedicated cameras typically have variable apertures, but almost all smartphone camera apertures are fixed. Samsung incorporating a camera with a variable aperture would allow users some control over depth of field that doesn’t rely on post-processing: The aperture could open up wide to help create the blurred-background look for portrait mode shots, or narrow to get shots where a deeper cross-section of a given scene is in sharp focus.

Wccftech reminds us that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+’s primary camera had a variable aperture that could switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 settings. If this latest rumor is true, I’d expect Samsung’s next camera with a variable aperture to work similarly, offering two presets to choose between. Because narrower apertures let in less light, the narrow setting would probably only be useful in bright settings.

Digital Chat Station’s post further says that Samsung is looking into making wider foldable phones, evidently also in an effort to keep up with Apple’s future plans.