Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom: 16MP Camera Phone Rumored for July

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom may be Samsung’s first camera phone, taking what Samsung learned from the Galaxy Camera and combining it with the Galaxy S4 brand.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom is rumored as a camera phone, not a connected camera with LTE. This distinction is important as it means the Galaxy S4 Zoom will be able to make calls and send texts just like a regular phone. This is a good thing for users who want to carry one device with an optical zoom, but it also means that the device will not likely be as cheap as the Galaxy Camera is to add to a Mobile Share or Share Everything Plan.

SamMobile reports that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is a new Samsung camera phone that will arrive in June or July with the Galaxy S4 name and pretty impressive specs.

• 16MP Sensor
• 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display
• 8GB storage
• Micro SD card support up to 64GB
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• WiFi 802.11 n
• A GPS
• Android 4.x Jelly Bean
• Samsung TouchWiz Overlay
• Dual-core or Quad core processor with an unknown amount of RAM

The leak doesn’t share the amount of zoom the Galaxy S4 zoom will feature. The Samsung Galaxy Camera features a 21X optical zoom. Most smartphones only offer a digital zoom, which is essentially zooming in on the photo by cropping it. An Optical zoom allows the camera to zoom without sacrificing quality. Adding an optical zoom to a camera phone will no doubt add bulk. If this is to be carried as an everyday phone, expect something slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy camera.

We’ve seen an increased focus on the smartphone as a camera and while the iPhone 5, HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 are pushing mobile photography forward, devices that can replace a high-end point and shoot with optical zoom are few and far between.

We reviewed the Nokia 808 Purview, calling it the best camera phone yet thanks to the camera phone’s ability to deliver great looking photos and videos, even in bad lighting conditions where typical smartphones falter. The Samsung Galaxy Camera debuted last year offering an Android camera with 4G LTE, but without the ability to make calls. This first generation device performed OK, but there was definitely room for improvement.

If the Galaxy S4 Zoom rumors are true, we could be looking forward to a Samsung Galaxy S4 device with a much improved camera and optical zoom, in a form factor that combines a phone and pocket ability.