Samsung has produced some fantastic camera setups in the last few years aboard such gems as the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S7, all of which have delivered consistently good quality and easy-to-use point-n-shoot photography, however, Samsung is now reportedly working on a brand new suite of camera sensor hardware to install inside its future devices, leading some (including us) to suspect it may appear on the Galaxy Note 6, or perhaps more likely the Galaxy S8 in early 2017. 

Within the last year, there has been an interesting shift by manufacturers away from chasing ever-escalating megapixel ratings, with a new apparent consensus at 12MP being a nice point to settle for. Meanwhile, instead OEMs have been focusing attention on another set of numbers in order to improve image quality; things like the aperture rating being below f/2.0 (lower numbers mean a wider sized aperture and more light let into the sensor), and a larger size for the sensor itself (again, bigger sensors allow in more light).

Alongside this there's been a push for clever features like super-fast laser/hybrid autofocus, dedicated image signal processors, dual-sensor arrays with  individual dedicated monochrome and colour sensors, and many more fancy pants things besides. In short, it's as if we're entering a new golden era of smartphone cameras where manufacturers have finally latched onto the idea previously espoused by photography buffs for some considerable time; that simply upping the MPs doesn't automatically equal better quality pictures.

However, now that said OEMs have got another set of numbers to chase, downwards for the aperture size and upwards for the sensor size, we may be looking at another arms race - and you know who loves an arms race; Samsung. Yes according to the rumour mill, specifically Photo Rumors and SamMobile, Samsung's next CMOS sensor will feature an f/1.4 aperture on a 1/1.7" sensor rated at between 18MP and 24MP. To put that in some kind of perspective, the Galaxy S7 is on a par with many of its peers with a 12MP camera module featuring an f/1.8 aperture and a 1/2.5" sensor size using a Sony sensor. Actually on aperture size alone Samsung is already towards the head of the pack for the wider offerings on the market, but this new sensor size isn't far off the venerable Nokia Lumia 1020 and its 1/1.5" setup.

It's not clear at this stage whether the camera sensor will be branded under Samsung's existing ISOCELL or BRITECELL brands which were trademarked over the last couple of years. Regardless, the upshot of all these changes, as we alluded to earlier, is more light being let into the sensor, potentially allowing for better dynamic range, less noise, finer details, and better low-light performance. The only possible downised is that in enlarging the sensor size the module will become bigger, which means we may see more of a bulge protruding from the bodywork