It can't just rely on stacking camera hardware.

In 2024, periscope telephoto lenses have become standard in flagship phones, bringing some imaging capabilities closer to those of cameras. However, in terms of periscope telephoto lenses alone, their technological development seems to have hit a ceiling. How to break through the bottleneck of periscope telephoto lenses? Samsung has a new idea.

Recently, Samsung's ISOCELL technology team proposed the ISOCELL ALoP (All-Lens on Prism) camera module design, innovatively moving the lens array to the top of the periscope prism, thereby shortening the length of the camera module by 22%.

(Image source: Weibo user)

Module gets smaller, imaging capability gets stronger?

In 2019, OPPO and Huawei successively released the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Edition and Huawei P30 Pro, respectively. The release of these two models also marked the periscope telephoto technology as one of the milestones in mobile phone imaging development. However, five years have passed, and the progress of periscope telephoto seems not as significant as we imagined.

(Image source: OPPO official)

This time, Samsung's proposed ISOCELL ALoP camera module design may propel the stagnant periscope telephoto technology into a new stage of development.

According to relevant reports, its biggest improvement is changing the arrangement of the lenses. Previously, mainstream periscope telephoto lenses placed the lenses vertically to the body, which had the advantage of accommodating more lenses and allowing light to reflect multiple times for the best shooting effect. However, the disadvantage is also obvious: more lenses significantly increase the module's volume, making the phone thick and heavy.

Early phones equipped with periscope telephoto lenses were like this. To achieve 5x or even 10x optical zoom, the phone became a brick. Take the Xiaomi 10 Ultra as an example; its body thickness reached 9.45mm, weighing over 220g. It's not just cumbersome to hold with one hand; it's even too heavy to carry in your pocket.

(Image source: Xiaomi official)

Of course, phone manufacturers are not pushovers. Over the past few years, many new technologies based on upgrades to periscope telephoto lenses have emerged. The most notable is the four-reflection prism design on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which uses reflective principles to greatly reduce the volume required for the periscope module.

(Image source: Leitech production)

To enhance its effect, Apple even invested significant human and material resources to reduce light loss and other interference during reflection. Unfortunately, idealism is grand, and Apple resolutely chose displacement image stabilization over high-quality telephoto lenses (for telephoto lenses, the importance of image stabilization performance far outweighs image quality), resulting in telephoto lens sensor sizes far inferior to those of domestic manufacturers, with ultimately disappointing results.

It can be said that the design concept of the iPhone 15 Pro Max equipped with this new technology is good, but it still cannot achieve both fish and bear's paw.

Therefore, by 2024, phone manufacturers were still using the periscope telephoto structure released in 2019. Although it was almost impossible to reduce its size, manufacturers had to compromise for ultimate image quality.

So, in what aspect did Samsung make improvements? The principle is actually not complicated. The ALoP technology allows the lens to be placed horizontally on the prism, parallel to the phone body. This layout can increase the lens diameter without increasing the camera module's height, thereby improving image brightness.

(Image source: Weibo user)

In other words, it can make the originally long and thick periscope module smaller, reducing its volume and gaining even more impressive "telephoto" capabilities.

Additionally, insiders revealed that this technology could debut on the Galaxy S25 series to be released early next year. If the news is true, it can be foreseen that next year's imaging flagships will again compete fiercely in telephoto capabilities.

But can high pixel count and ALoP modules truly coexist? Here, I still want to raise a question mark because, between the new design and 200-megapixel promotion, I believe most consumers would choose high pixel count.

Are increasingly high telephoto multiples really needed by users?

I wonder if readers have noticed that early phones equipped with periscope telephoto lenses often advertised support for 5x optical zoom, 10x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom, etc., which indeed impressed many consumers (including me). However, the actual experience shows that the excessively long native focal length of telephoto lenses can hinder performance.

Nowadays, mobile phone main cameras mostly have a focal length between 23mm and 26mm, which is technically a wide-angle focal length. Wide-angle photography has a high learning curve for most consumers, and even some professional photographers cannot guarantee mastering this focal length.

Therefore, focal lengths like 50mm, 90mm, and 120mm, which offer more flexible composition and compressed depth of field, have become favorites among consumers. It can even be said that a good telephoto lens can give users a great sense of accomplishment and make them more easily feel the joy of photography.

(Image source: Leitech production)

But think about it, if the native magnification of a telephoto lens is designed to be 5x or even 6x, the focal length will suddenly stretch to 120-144mm. An excessively long focal length greatly limits usage scenarios. Besides concerts and distant mountain peaks, it's hard to find suitable scenes for a 5x telephoto lens.

Moreover, most phones only have three sensors: ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle (main camera), and super telephoto. This results in a complete lack of focal lengths between 2.1x and 4.9x. Without an independent lens, phones can only achieve digital zoom by cropping the main camera's image, but the quality of digital zoom is very poor, resulting in a strong sense of disconnection when used.

Therefore, in the past two years, phone manufacturers, especially domestic ones, have collectively "regressed" from 5x or even 10x to 3-3.7x, which translates to around 72-90mm. This focal length can be considered a versatile one, providing good composition ideas whether capturing mountains, seas, people, or food.

(Image source: Leitech production)

So, if Samsung's ALoP module truly becomes a market trend, will manufacturers, due to the reduced size, resume their previous high-magnification promotional tactics? After all, consumers are sensitive to numbers. They might not care about the image quality improvements of this new technology but would likely place an order if told the phone equipped with it can zoom in 100x or even 200x.

(Image source: Xiaomi official)

Samsung's new technology is undoubtedly good for the development of mobile phone imaging. However, if it causes phone manufacturers to repeat past mistakes, that would be putting the cart before the horse.

The upgrade of mobile phone imaging cannot rely solely on stacking camera hardware

Frankly, phone manufacturers' current promotional focus on imaging seems somewhat off track, leading most discussions to focus only on hardware configuration and algorithms. In reality, imaging is inseparable from the processor, screen, and battery.

For example, taking photos and videos now requires multiple cameras to be in constant operation and the processor to perform real-time calculations. If the battery capacity is not large, the phone might run out of power before the user has taken enough photos, missing many memorable moments. Therefore, as an imaging flagship, it must not only take good photos but also give users the confidence to take photos whenever they want, unconstrained by battery life or heat.

(Image source: OPPO official)

Fortunately, recent phones have made breakthroughs in battery technology, with flagship phones generally having batteries around 6000mAh, coupled with lower-power processors, indeed giving users more time to take photos, record videos, and entertain themselves. But this is still not enough, and I look forward to even greater upgrades in battery technology.

Another example is the screen, which has been one of the key promotional points for phone manufacturers in recent years. Whether for phones or cameras, even the best photos will be greatly diminished when displayed on a screen with poor display quality. A good screen can provide more realistic and detailed image display, helping users better compose and focus and more accurately adjust colors during post-processing.

But at this stage, who dares say their screen color reproduction is the best and most accurate? I believe most phone manufacturers cannot guarantee it. Perhaps only after the complete maturity of hardware such as screen chips and imaging chips can mobile phone imaging truly reach a new peak.

(Image source: Leitech production)

It has to be said that the development of mobile phone imaging has surpassed our expectations, proving that "only professional cameras can take good photos" is a misconception. Instead, it is a photographic device that we carry with us every day, ready to record life at any time.

So, are you looking forward to increasingly professional imaging flagship phones?

Source: Leitech