Samsung is supplying its advanced 50MP camera with nanoprism tech to its rival, Xiaomi. Introduced back in June last year, Samsung’s ISOCELL JNP has debuted with Xiaomi’s camera-focused phone, the Civi 5 Pro.

Japanese firm Sony holds the crown in the image sensor market with a 51.6% share as of 2024. South Korea’s Samsung, on the flip side, was the runner up with 15.4% share, with China’s Omnivision flagging 11.9% market share last year.

Samsung Semiconductor is expanding its ISOCELL business to crush Sony’s dominance and harm Omnivision’s growth. The camera sensor Xiaomi is sourcing from Samsung is ISOCELL JNP, which features 50MP resolution and nanoprism tech.

ISOCELL JNP sensor is designed by Samsung Semiconductor, a Samsung Electronics subsidiary. Galaxy phones heavily use ISOCELL sensors, and it’s the first time the Korean firm is supplying its advanced image sensor to its mobile business opponent.

As per Samsung, the ISOCELL JNP sensor has 50MP resolution, 0.64-micron pixel size, and 1/2.8-inch optical format. It’s the world’s first sensor with a nanoprism structure within the micro-lens, which enhances brightness and sharpness in low light.

Source – Samsung Semiconductor

ISOCELL JNP sensor captures more light per pixel to enhance low-light photography. It’s designed for smartphone makers who prefer thinner products, which makes it necessary for the camera modules to remain smaller.

“This architecture boosts light sensitivity by 25% compared to our previous JN5 sensor,” said a source at Samsung Electronics.

Notably, the ISOCELL JNP remained in “development stage” for around a year post-unveiling last June. However, the sensor has quietly entered mass production and is being supplied in large volumes for the Xiaomi Civi 5 Pro phone.

Samsung’s decision to arm its smartphone market rival Xiaomi with an advanced image sensor shows its plans to expand presence in this segment as well, despite knowing that Xiaomi phones will ultimately challenge its own Galaxy lineup.

Following Samsung’s recent Unpacked, leaks and rumors about next year’s flagships have intensified. The Galaxy S26 series is six months away, and a new report talks about the internal codename and a camera upgrade for the Plus or Edge.

According to Winfuture, Samsung’s internal codenames for the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra are NPA1, NPA2, and NPA3, respectively. The report also mentioned that the term “NPA” stands for Next Paradigm.

Additionally, the report reveals a major camera upgrade for the lineup’s middle child, which could be the Galaxy S26 Plus or Galaxy S26 Edge. The company is expected to expand its 50MP ultrawide camera to the S26 Plus or S26 Edge.

Samsung installed a new 50MP sensor in the Galaxy S25 Ultra for the ultrawide camera. This sensor upgrades the landscape photography experience. Now, the solution is slated to be used in another variant in the next lineup.

The Galaxy S25 Plus and Edge feature a 12-megapixel sensor for the ultrawide camera. The 50-megapixel lens will offer better photos by capturing more details and colors. You can also expect 8K video recording at 30fps with an ultrawide camera.

Most of the recent reports hint that Samsung will be dropping the Plus model from the Galaxy S26 series next year. Edge is the only candidate that will fill the gap of the Plus variant, and it would get a better camera setup, probably including a Telephoto.

If Samsung intends to merge the S26 Plus and Edge to offer a hybrid experience, the S26 Edge may come with a Telephoto camera. It could be a Telephoto sensor capable of 10-megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom.

With the official reveal over six months away, these inputs can’t be considered final. Take this information with a pinch of salt, we expect more juicy details about the next-gen Galaxies throughout the rumor mill period till the next Unpacked.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could get a display upgrade with CoE OLED and depolarization technology. A trusted source revealed key upgrades of the next flagship, including a clearer screen, longer battery life, and a slimmer design.

The new CoE OLED brings several improvements over traditional OLED displays. Samsung’s official presentation (via IceUniverse) highlights advantages including thinner panels, lower power consumption, vivid colors, and reduced light reflection.

Thanks to CoE OLED’s improved light transmission, the display uses less power. This way, the S26 Ultra could last longer than the S25 Ultra with the same battery capacity. The reduced panel thickness would introduce an even thinner design.

CoE OLED

CoE OLED replaces the legacy polarizer with a color filter and swaps the standard Pixel Definition Layer (PDL) with a black PDL. This change makes the display thinner and boosts light transmission, lowering power consumption.

In addition, the leaker claimed that the Galaxy S26 Ultra sports a third-generation CoE+ anti-reflective coating. It trims the display’s thickness even more and lightens the phone’s weight, helping Samsung make the S26 Ultra sleeker.

While the input comes from a trusted source, it remains unconfirmed till Samsung officially spills the beans. The next-gen flagship phones will launch in early 2026, which will bring some notable upgrades over the S25 series.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is also rumored to use a 200MP sensor from Sony. It could be nearly 1 inch in size and replace the ISOCELL HP2. This is a wild rumor, and we speculate the S27 Ultra might make this shift, not the S26 Ultra.

Well, Samsung’s Design Chief recently highlighted the potential evolution of the Mobile segment. The upcoming products will focus on nurturing a connected ecosystem and the S26 series may be the first AI Phone to feel more like a human.

Samsung appears to be upgrading the display, battery, and charging of the Galaxy S25 FE. The company is likely to replace the Plus model with Edge in the Galaxy S26 series. Meanwhile, the next Fan Edition is getting closer to S25 Plus specs.

Flexible LTPO OLED display

A new report talks about the display specifications of the S25 FE. The device will retain a 6.7-inch panel, but it will have LTPO, enabling a 1Hz- 120Hz refresh rate. The screen’s resolution would be FHD+ with Dynamic AMOLED 2X tech.

Samsung Display is reportedly prepping to start mass production of flexible OLED screens for the Galaxy S25 FE. It’s a notable hardware upgrade, as previous Fan Edition phones were equipped with a legacy rigid OLED display.

Source – Wireless Power Consortium

Upgraded battery and charging

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE could be equipped with a 4,900mAh battery and 45W charging. It’s a 200mAh upgrade in battery, and charging is going up from 25W. These are the same battery and charging specs as the S25 Plus.

We may not see the Galaxy S25 Plus successor ever. However, the Korean tech giant is bringing flagship-grade features to its FE model. With these upgrades, the Galaxy S25 FE will have significant sales potential in the market.

Other specifications

Galaxy S25 FE may be the thinnest Fan Edition by Samsung ever. It would be just 7.4mm thick and weigh around 190 grams. It’s great to see that Samsung’s reducing thickness and weight despite upgrading the battery capacity.

Under the hood, the device will be powered by the Exynos 2400 chip. The storage configurations are expected to be 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, paired with 8GB RAM. Is 8GB RAM enough to handle One UI 8 resources and Galaxy AI features?

Additionally, the Galaxy S25 FE will replicate image sensors from the S24 FE, including a 50-megapixel primary, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and an 8-megapixel telephoto; however, the selfie snapper will have a new 12-megapixel sensor.

Samsung will launch the Galaxy S25 FE later this year. It will come with Android 16-based One UI 8 pre-installed. With seven years of software support, it will beat the Galaxy S25 lineup with an additional OS upgrade at last.

Samsung is reportedly considering a wild upgrade for its next Ultra flagship. A new rumor hints that the Galaxy S26 Ultra might drop Samsung’s ISOCELL HP2 camera and adopt a Sony-made 200MP sensor of nearly 1-inch size.

Weibo leaker FocalDigital claims that the Galaxy S26 Ultra could be equipped with a 200MP camera from Sony. The said image sensor might be nearly 1-inch big (1/1.1 size), which is said to be “super powerful.”

Samsung introduced the Galaxy S23 Ultra as its first 200MP camera phone. The S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra reused the same ISOCELL HP2 image sensor. Recent leaks revealed that the S26 Ultra would stick to a 200MP sensor for the main camera.

The latest rumor aligns with previous inputs, keeping the sensor resolution the same at 200MP. Meanwhile, the Korean tech giant might be dropping its in-house ISOCELL camera in favor of a Sony-made CMOS for photography upgrades.

Source – Focal Digital / Weibo

Back in March 2025, it was rumored that Sony’s 200MP camera is in the works. This sensor might be used by Android flagships with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset. That said, the S26 Ultra heading to Sony’s 200MP camera doesn’t seem impossible.

Samsung’s HP2 and HP9 are mobile camera sensors with 200MP resolution. There’s another solution from Omnivision dubbed OVBoB for those vendors who don’t want to use Samsung’s ISOCELL image sensor.

Meanwhile, the 200MP camera that Sony is reportedly developing features a physical size of 1/1.1-inch. It is practically much bigger than ISOCELL HP2 and ISOCELL HP9, which are 1/1.3-inch and 1/1.4-inch, respectively.

As the competition rises, Samsung can’t hold on to upgrading Ultra specs. Apple is also aggressive on iPhone specs, which forces the Galaxy maker to set new standards. While it’s a rumored info, the S26 Ultra may upgrade camera capabilities with a Sony sensor.