The Samsung Galaxy S23 line-up has officially launched, and at the series’ head comes the Galaxy S23 Ultra, one of the largest, most powerful Android smartphones to date. The shining example of Samsung’s best model? Brand-new 200-megapixel sensor on the rear. Samsung can’t stop raving about how much better it is over the previous model’s 108MP sensor. The front-facing sensor has been reduced from 40MP on the Galaxy S22 Ultra to 12MP on the S23 Ultra, however this was not highlighted by the business. Yeah, well, .

This piece and its concept are completely ridiculous, I get that. The 200MP camera on the Motorola Edge 30 is a prime example; we’re among the first to slam such inflated boasts of megapixel numbers that mean nothing in practise. We are also well aware that the size of the sensor has a greater influence in light capture and the quality of the final product. We have also spent much time weighing the merits of computational and post-processing photography against those of increasing the number of available megapixels. So, why are we even discussing this?

We simply find the difference between the two shifts hilarious, particularly Samsung’s attempt to sidestep the issue.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra would have us think that more megapixels equals better photos, thus the firm should have kept the 40MP front-facing camera. A more recent phone can’t have worse features, right? If sensor size is more essential than megapixels, then maybe Samsung would have been better served by upgrading the quality of the primary camera to 108 megapixels rather than rushing to 200 megapixels. This problem may be simplified in this manner.

We set aside the hilarious (and unpleasant) predicament Samsung’s marketing team must have been in after seeing the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s specifications and set out to find out why this “downgrade” had occurred.

It’s funny how Samsung can simultaneously improve and worsen its megapixel count.

The most obvious reason is the standardisation of selfie cameras across all Galaxy S23 devices. Because the front-facing sensor has been standardised across all three models, Samsung may save money in research and development as well as in the cost of the underlying components. Samsung has promised faster focusing, Super HDR, and improved night performance, but the company has yet to confirm which sensor it will be utilising. Previous leaks pointed to the Isocell 3LU, but this has not been confirmed by the company. The rumour mill also had it that the camera’s range of vision was expanded, making for superior group pictures. It wouldn’t surprise us if the new 12MP sensor turned out to be larger than the Isocell GH1 found in the S22 Ultra, which used pixel binning to produce 10MP images with a resolution of 40MP.

Despite what the cold hard facts say, it seems like this is more of a side-gr ade than a downgrade, and maybe even an enhancement. As always, we’ll be keeping a watch on this update and testing it out with our own review unit, but in the meanwhile, feel free to check out our in-depth look at the Galaxy S23 line.