While Samsung is betting on the megapixel war with sensors like the 1/1.12-inch 200 MP ISOCELL HP1, Sony is promoting a different strategy with the presentation of the IMX989 for the first time. one inch and 50 MP specially designed for mobile phones.

Xiaomi announced Sony has announced that the new sensor will be launched on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, a mobile phone that will be presented alongside other devices in its family, on July 4, and will come with a photo system by the famous manufacturer Leica.

But this isn’t the first time the Japanese have provided one-inch sensors to mobile manufacturers. Remember the Xperia Pro-1? Known as a “hybrid between phone and compact camera,” it adopted the one-inch Exmor RS CMOS sensor, but this based on the RX100 VII used in compact cameras.

Xiaomi, for its part, won’t be the first brand to bet on one-inch sensors. The Sharp Aquos R6, introduced in 2021, had a rear camera with this feature, while the Aquos R7 and Leitz Phone 1 followed in its footsteps. And what do all these models have in common? They use “old” Sony sensors.

From the war of megapixels to the war of sensors

But the Japanese company is not alone in this area. The South Koreans recently launched their most advanced sensor, the 1/1.4 inch ISOCELL HP3. this is a suggestion 200 MP designed for high-end mobile phones. It features the smallest pixel size in the industry at just 0.56μm, and Tetra 2 Pixel Binning technology, which combines four pixels into one larger pixel and fuses them together to create a “superpixel”.

Sony’s IMX989 is a 50MP maximum resolution and has a pixel size of about 1.5 μm. Thanks to its size, it relies less on pixel binning and AI tricks to render the image. Overall, this should offer better results in stills and video.

With these suggestions on the table, the evolution of mobile device cameras is more than interesting. Who will be the winner of the competition? For now, we just have to wait for new devices to start rolling out. On the Sony side, the IMX989 will come Xiaomi 12S Ultra. We have no official news on the Samsung side, but rumors suggest that the ISOCELL HP1 will launch in the coming days. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

on Xataka | Megapixels: what are they, what do they do and how important are they on your mobile phone?