Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Look at these insane leaked night mode and 30x zoom photos

The highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S23 series is set to be launched next week, so it’s no surprise that the devices have been the target of leakers. We already know what they look like, and now we’re getting a glimpse of what those protruding camera lenses will be able to do.

Twitter user Edwards Urbina appears to have somehow gotten his hands on a pre-release S23 Ultra and has been posting a slew of sample photos. Judging by this evidence alone, it looks like the cameras on this top-of-the-line model will have some serious capabilities.

The phone’s night mode is able to draw an incredible amount of light from seemingly pitch-black scenes, even capturing a night sky full of stars. Samsung has been teasing an “epic” night mode for a while now, and while it’s impossible to get a proper read on these cameras without testing them ourselves, the results do look impressive.

Samsung has already revealed a new 200MP Isocell HP2 sensor that will almost certainly make its way into the S23 Ultra’s main camera, replacing the S22 Ultra’s 108MP unit. It packs 0.6μm pixels into the same 1/1.3-inch sensor size and uses Tetra²pixel technology for pixel binning. In low light, the sensor spits out either 1.2μm 50MP (four-to-one binning) or 2.4μm 12.5MP (16-to-one binning) photos. The company is also claiming better autofocus in low light thanks to Super Quad Phase Detection (Super QPD) technology.

Urbina has also posted images demonstrating the S23 Ultra’s purported 30x Space Zoom feature, extending the phone’s reach beyond the 20x digital zoom of the S22 Ultra. This is despite the device still expected to feature a maximum of 10x optical zoom through a periscope lens, meaning that it’s likely using some data from the 200MP main camera. As you can see, the phone delivers a reasonable level of detail for something captured so far away.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series will be revealed on February 2 at 2:00am Malaysian time, expected to feature a custom version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip that should let it run slightly faster than other Android smartphones with the same chip. Malaysian pre-orders are expected to start right after the announcement as we’re one of Samsung’s key markets; you can already get a RM200 discount on these devices if you register your interest online.