[Tech Lab Notes] Inside the Galaxy A80’s Revolutionary Rotating Camera

Samsung engineers developed an innovative mechanical solution to bring the rotating camera to life

A camera that rotates presents itself as the perfect camera solution for smartphone users in the Era of Live as not only can it expand the rear camera experience to front-facing pictures and videos¹, but it can also allow for a true full-screen experience for users to fully engage in their favorite content.

And so, Samsung brought its first rotating camera module to the Galaxy A80.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

Developing a smartphone with a rotating camera was a unique challenge. Existing technologies dictated that in order for a camera to slide up and then rotate from within its device, two motors would be required – an impossible addition to a smartphone given the amount of space for parts this would require.

In order to mitigate this, Samsung developed a solution requiring no extra motor parts that also ensures no premature rotation occurs, thanks to a mechanism complete with locking ‘teeth’, rail and hook. These innovative technologies then entailed an optimization of the motor to ensure it could power the camera’s vertical slide and rotation.

Captivating Camera Quality

The Galaxy A80’s rear camera module features a 48MP Main camera, an Ultra Wide angle lens camera, and a 3D Depth camera so that users can capture any moment just as they see it. And when users select selfie mode in the camera app, the rotating camera mechanism brings a powerful triple camera experience to front-facing pictures and videos, too.

In addition to this hardware innovation, Samsung’s engineers understood that using the same lenses for both front and rear perspectives would require optimization of the camera module, as the functionalities of these camera perspectives are different. Therefore, the Galaxy A80’s camera software has been optimized to ensure that the picture quality of the camera is suitable for rear-taken, landscape shots as well as close-up, undistorted selfie pictures.

Ensuring Exceptional Camera Experiences

In order to assess whether these solutions could withstand extensive use for each and every spontaneous selfie moment, the Galaxy A80’s rotating camera underwent full and thorough testing at a dedicated Samsung lab.

Galaxy A80 devices were put through a multitude of quality-testing use case scenarios designed to verify that the hardware and software innovations of the device were able to consistently provide the best camera experience possible, even after extensive use.

Galaxy A80 smartphones undergo quality testing to ensure that the rotating camera, with its bespoke hardware and software innovations, can still provide its best camera experience to users even after extensive use.

In developing the camera module hardware and software for the Galaxy A80, Samsung wanted to create a camera that was able to help people capture what they see, when they see it, how they see it. The Galaxy A80, with its innovative rotating camera, is a smartphone built to enhance spontaneous interactions and support self-expression without limitation in the Era of Live.

¹Functionality of the Galaxy A80’s rotating camera module when on front-facing mode differs from the functionality offered on rear-facing mode.