Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Confirmed To Have Dual-Camera Module With 3X Optical Zoom?

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 is believed to sport a dual-camera module on its back. This week, new information about the device’s rear camera technology has surfaced thanks to a South Korean analyst and industry watchers. Based on the analyst’s statement, the dual-lens camera on the upcoming phablet could be composed of one lens that has a 12-megapixel sensor and another with a 13-megapixel sensor.

This Tuesday, Daishin Securities analyst Park Kang-Ho spoke with South Korean publication Korea Herald and revealed that the adoption of dual cameras is inevitable for Samsung now that the company is working on its Galaxy Note 7 successor. “Although Samsung did not officially announce the adoption of dual cameras (for the Galaxy S8), it is inevitable to feature the cameras, which stole the spotlight during this year’s Mobile World Congress,” the analyst said.

The dual-camera setup that Apple’s biggest rival is rumored to be bringing to its next flagship phone is said have a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 13-megapixel telephoto lens. The combination of the two would then make the phablet an excellent smartphone for taking high quality photos. Industry watchers also revealed that the module will be capable of 3X optical zoom, which is bigger than the 2X optical zoom of the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual-camera setup.

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No other details about the iPhone 8 were provided. Korea Herald instead noted that Samsung is just riding the wave of the growing demand for dual-camera phones. The trend is said to have been started by Apple when it launched the iPhone 7 Plus last year. Since then, more and more phone manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon. Samsung was actually eager to join the trend earlier, but its plan of putting dual cameras on the Galaxy S8 fell through due to a cost issue.

Despite its failure to equip the Galaxy S8 with dual cameras, Samsung did start earning from this technology by supplying dual cameras to Chinese companies Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. Analysts even pointed out that Samsung made a turnaround in the first quarter after announcing huge losses due to the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7 thanks to its dual camera production for the Chinese handset makers.

Meanwhile, a report published on Chinese site Weibo on Monday claimed that the Galaxy Note 8 is going to feature a 6.3-inch display with 18:5:9 aspect ratio. If the rumored display size turns out to be true, then the upcoming phablet would be bigger than the Galaxy S8+, which comes with a 6.2-inch 1440 x 2960 screen. The report also did reiterate the previous rumors about the dual-camera setup on the next-generation Note-branded smartphone.

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No other information about the Android phone was leaked, but Samsung is expected to go all out and equip the handset with new features. After all, it needs to win over the trust of the millions of customers who were forced to return their defective Galaxy Note 7 units last year, according to SamMobile. Given the new form factor of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, it won’t be surprising if the Galaxy Note 8 will also debut with very minimal bezels and curved edges.