Sony Introduces IMX586: New Camera Sensor For Smartphones That Can Shoot at 48 Megapixels

Sony is one of the most preferred choices when it comes to camera sensors in a smartphone. So many phone manufacturers use Sony sensors for their respective camera units, with varying quality. Suffice it to say that the Japanese giant delivers some of the best camera sensors in the industry.

To further strengthen their stronghold, Sony has introduced a new sensor for smartphones, IMX586, which is capable of shooting at 48 megapixels. The pixel size is only 0.8 µm which is quite small. Usually, we see something like 1.25 µm or 1.4 µm pixel sizes in smartphone cameras.

However, since there are so many pixels to deal with, the picture quality is said to be impressive (with a touch understatement), and this will remain the case even when using digital zoom with the new sensor. Furthermore, the IMX586 features Quad Bayer 2×2 pixels array and it will sew together 4 of its 0.8 µm pixels for a quality better than, for example, a 12 MP sensor with 1.6 µm pixels.

This new sensor is like a predecessor of the 40 MP sensor found in the Huawei P20 Pro which also uses the Quad Bayer arrangement. Sony says that this IMX586 sensor will be seen in smartphones from as early as September 2018. In fact, Sony’s upcoming Xperia XZ3 smartphone will likely have one.

Keep watching this space for more information on this as well as other upcoming smartphones of 2018.