Samsung has decided to finally do something a little different for 2025, and that will be the introduction of a new Slim model for its S25 lineup. Keeping a phone slim is easier now than it has ever been, but I imagine it will still be quite a challenge for the OEM.
One aspect of the smartphone that it might struggle to keep on the slender side will be the camera module. Periscope telephoto lenses were one way to give phones zoom capabilities without a noticeable change in physical dimensions. ALoP technology, as expected in the S25 Slim, will be a further step up from that.
What Is All Lenses on Prism (ALoP) Camera Technology?
If you’ve ever seen a zoom lens on a real camera, you know that the further you want to zoom in, the longer the lens physically gets. It’s simply how things work in terms of physics. On smartphones, genius engineers have been able to fit 3x telephoto modules into phones without a noticeable difference in thickness. If you want those 5x or 10x telephotos though, you have to make use of periscope telephoto lenses.
If you ever made a periscope in your early days of school, you’ll know how they work. That’s similar to how periscope lenses in phones work. Instead of the camera components being directly below the lens on the exterior of the phone, the actual glass lenses and sensor are placed sideways (the Zenfone Zoom was the first!), and a prism is used to turn light at a 90-degree angle. That prism is essential for a periscope lens.
In an ALoP camera setup, the prism remains because the sensor is still placed sideways. However, in this case, the glass lenses are stacked on top of each other and remain in the same orientation as regular lenses. They sit on top of a prism that rotates the light to hit a sideways sensor.
What Makes An ALoP Camera Setup Better Than A Regular Periscopic One?
There are a few reasons why an ALoP camera is a better option for both manufacturers and consumers. For one, it allows for much larger diameter lenses, which means you can utilize a larger aperture, which typically means that you get a brighter image. For portrait shots, that can be invaluable in the nighttime.
Compared to a regular telephoto setup, this one gets to be a little bit shorter (less prominent), and since the lenses don’t need to be arranged sideways, it means that the camera module can be less wide too. And you know that rectangular camera opening that you see with a periscope telephoto lens? That’s gone too—back to a regular circle.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim Will Use This To Further Shrink Its Profile
That’s a lot of yapping about camera tech, but the reason you need to know all of that is so that you can understand the actual benefit that comes with the S25 Slim using ALoP tech, according to Jukanlosreve on X. Considering that the phone is meant to have a sub-7mm thickness, I’d assume it’d be hard to have a telephoto in any other way.
Whether the actual photo quality will be as good as Samsung can achieve with a regular telephoto lens will be made certain when it is launch time.
