Get set for more camera phones with real optical zoom

Samsung is reportedly developing a new phone camera module featuring variable optical zoom, but apparently it's not for use in the brand's own Galaxy devices. The report states that Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been commissioned to produce a variable zoom module by Xiaomi for use in its camera phones.

At this point it's worth clarifying exactly what is a variable/continuous zoom module. Plenty of camera phones have what's often referred to as 'zoom', however these telephoto modules use a lens with a fixed focal length. The word zoom in this context merely refers to the difference in focal length between the telephoto lens and the phone's primary, wide-angle module.

Very few camera phones actually feature true optical zoom. That's where a single camera module contains lens elements which can move to cover a seamless focal range, just like a zoom lens for a standalone mirrorless or DSLR camera. If a camera phone offers what appears to be seamless zoom, this is usually achieved through tricks like on-sensor cropping that covers the focal length gaps between the fixed ultrawide, wide and telephoto lenses.

There are some exceptions though - phones that do have true optical zoom. The Sony Xperia 1 VI and VII have telephoto modules that can continuously zoom between 85mm and 170mm. And even Samsung itself has a history of making camera phones boasting true optical zoom. Back in 2013 it released the Galaxy S4 Zoom - a phone with a 24–240mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.1-6.3 lens, providing 10x optical zoom. A year later it followed this with the Galaxy K Zoom (a phone I personally reviewed at the time) which also had 10x continuous optical zoom.

However, where the Xperia 1 VI and VII's zoom lenses are small enough to fit inside a typically slim smartphone form factor, The Galaxy S4 Zoom and K Zoom required much bulkier camera lenses that extended out of the phone chassis as they zoomed in, just like a conventional compact camera of the day. This made the phones relatively thick, and that would never be acceptable today when Samsung is on a drive to make phones ever-slimmer, evidenced by the current S25 Edge.

So whatever Samsung is developing for Xiaomi, it'll almost certainly be an ultra-compact zoom module that's unlikely to increase the size of the phone's camera bump beyond that of Xiaomi 15 Ultra. I wouldn't expect more than 3x optical zoom either, in order to minimize the physical size of the lens. But with the power of AI image enhancement, extra zoom reach is possible, and with minimal image degradation.

It remains to be seen whether Samsung will use the technology in future Galaxy phones, or if the tech is being developed exclusively for Xiaomi.