Samsung is rumored to launch two new phones in the coming weeks – the successors to the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy S10. While the former is rumored to be called the Galaxy Fold 2, the latter was originally expected to be named the Galaxy S11, but is now tipped to be marketed as the Galaxy S20. Irrespective of the nomenclature, they are expected to be unveiled next month, and some of their features might have now been leaked in the latest One UI 2.0 update.
Believed to have been first spotted by XDA, details about the upcoming devices are said to have been found in the official One UI 2.0 firmware that has just started rolling out to the Galaxy Note 9. According to the report, the build contains a number of strings, resources and code that reveal that the devices may offer a plethora of new camera features and more.
Director’s View
One of the most notable camera features revealed by the APK teardown is Director’s View that the report believes would allow users to “record and swap between the different lenses on the Galaxy S20 as you were recording, similar to Filmic Pro on the iPhone”. Some of the newer strings added recently further reveal that the camera will also have an auto-focus feature that will allow it to keep tracking any subject manually selected by the user.
Single Take Photo
Single Take Photo is a new AI photography mode that the report speculates might be similar to the Photobooth mode from the Google Pixel. That being the case, it might automatically click pictures when it detects a smile, kiss or other similar ‘Kodak Moments’. Interestingly, though, unlike Photobooth, Samsung’s new camera mode may also work on rear cameras, enabling users to almost always click the best pictures by taking away the pains of framing and timing their shots perfectly.
Pro Video May be Back
The stings also show that Samsung is thinking about bringing back the Pro Video mode that offered more granular controls even when shooting videos. While the option is still available for photographs, it was done away with for video recordings in recent builds, but the company is seemingly looking to bring that back in its next-gen flagships.
New Live Focus Modes
Alongside the aforementioned features, Samsung may be looking to add 4 new modes to the Live Focus feature that enables users to change the blurred lights in the background of a photo. Alongside the existing effects like Blur, Big circles, Color point, Spin and Zoom, the new modes might include Artify, Mono, Side light and Vintage, as seen in the screenshot below.
Battery Health Indicator
The Samsung Settings app now also contains strings that suggest the company will offer an iPhone-like feature, allowing users to check the health of the phone’s battery. The feature will enable users to know when it’s time to get the battery replaced.
Galaxy Fold 2 Super-Fast Charging
The new firmware reportedly contains an animation file titled “bloom_front_charging_effect_superfast” meant for ‘bloom’, which is the codename for the next-gen Galaxy Fold. It reportedly reveals that the device might support between 25W and 45W fast-charging.
While the last feature won’t be ported back to older devices for obvious reasons, it will be interesting to see if the camera features, which are largely software oriented, will come to existing Galaxy smartphones going forward.
