Not only the chipsets, but Samsung is also known to dual source camera sensors for its flagship S-series phones. Every year, we see Samsung splitting a Sony sensor and its own Isocell sensor for its high-end phones. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus (Review), for instance, use Sony’s IMX345 and Samsung’s own S5K2L3 ISOCELL.
Sony IMX345 vs Samsung Isocell S5K2L3 camera sensor: What’s different?
TechInsights has done some digging and found a different design for both sensors too. The Sony IMX345 has a triple layer stacked design with a custom DRAM solution placed between the CMOS sensor that gathers light and the ISP that crunches the signal data.
Samsung’s ISOCELL S5K2L3 sensor is a 3 layer sensor as well but it has a regular LPDDR4 DRAM mounted as the base layer.
The DRAM helps with faster image processing and is responsible for the super slow motion videos on the S9+
All that is rather technical and we won’t pretend to understand it all. But if you are curious as to what sensor your Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ is using, here is how to proceed.
Also Check: Samsung Galaxy S9+ vs iPhone X Camera Comparison
How to check the camera sensor on your Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus
Step 1: Download AIDA64 App from Play Store. It’s a Hardware and Software information app for Android phones.
Step 2: Open the app and tap on Devices
Step 3: Check for Camera ID for the rear camera (Top line) you will be able to check sensor name here.
Check Camera Sensor used on Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus
This isn’t the first time Samsung is sourcing camera sensors from different suppliers for its S-series flagships. In fact, this has been a standard practice for three generations now, since Galaxy S7.
Our Samsung Galaxy S9 ships with ISOCELL S5K2L3 sensor. Samsung has resorted to using both sensors in the same region in the past, so we are not sure that everyone in India will have the same sensor or not. Also, we are quite satisfied with the camera performance on our test unit and thus aren’t particularly bothered. You should make an informed choice nonetheless.
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