Tech Desk 
Sep 11, 2025
An undated image of Samsung phone. — Samsung
Samsung is reportedly developing a continuous zoom camera system for smartphones, a feature that could dramatically improve photo and video quality across different zoom levels.
However, the technology will reportedly debut on Chinese smartphones first, rather than on Samsung’s own Galaxy lineup.
According to a report from The Elec, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is developing this system at the request of a number of Chinese smartphone makers.
Several rumours in the report suggest that Samsung Electro-Mechanics will first aim to supply continuous zoom to Chinese smartphone makers but will look to supply to Samsung Electronics and others in the future.
The report went on to say that Samsung is preparing to supply technology to a "certain" Chinese smartphone maker.
Notably, continuous zoom technology allows the lens and components to physically shift to create optical zoom across a wide range, for example, from 3x to 8x zoom, similar to a professional camera.
This ensures consistently good image quality across the range of zoom levels, unlike today's smartphones, which rely on fixed telephoto lenses (like the 3x on the Galaxy S25) and then use digital zoom for the in-between spots.
