Now that the Galaxy Note20 is just a few days away from the official launch and that we know almost everything there is to know about it, our eyes are on the next generation of high-end smartphones from Samsung. The camera module on the Galaxy Note20 Ultra comes without a “time of flight” sensor (3D TOF), and this will apparently continue on the Galaxy S21 (or S30?), Which will be delivered without such a sensor. The reasons are many, from the poor quality of today’s technology to the fact that it does not have much practical utility.
According to The Elec, the reason why neither Note20 nor Galaxy S21 will benefit from 3D TOF sensors is because Apple already has a much better solution. It debuted on the iPad Pro 2020, being called a LiDAR sensor, which covers twice the distance. The reason Samsung can’t access this technology at the moment is that Apple has an exclusive contract with Sony.
Samsung is preparing changes to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series of smartphones
Thus, Samsung has decided not to use the alternative technology to which it currently has access. Since there are no applications yet that really benefit from such a sensor, it will take it out of its devices. It will return on Samsung phones in the future, but with a proprietary time of flight sensor, developed by the Samsung LSI division, to ensure top performance.
But what could return on the Galaxy S21 could be a headphone jack. Samsung phones have offered such a port on the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note models up to previous generations. Note10 and S20 were the first to remove this component, to the disappointment of fans. The company could launch the Galaxy S21 series with a headphone jack to “test” the market. If the fan response is negative and there is no upward trend in sales, it will probably remain just an experiment.
Samsung’s fear seems to be that the S20 models didn’t sell as well as previous models and that they didn’t have a headphone jack. The truth is, however, that the prices of its phones have risen substantially in the last few years, while the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly affected phone sales, especially in the high-end segment.
The same source who talks about the headphone jack (Mauri QHD), also mentions that from now on the Galaxy S series will be used for greater promotion, while the Note series could become more experimental, with new unusual features. In fact, the company expects future S models to sell better than the Note range.