Phone cameras are battery hogs, but that will change thanks to Sony

One way to drain your phone’s battery is to take loads of photos and videos. However, Sony has announced a new partnership that could bring power-sipping camera sensors to smartphones.

Sony and Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC announced a joint venture last week for the “development and manufacturing of next-generation image sensors.” The press release didn’t mention smartphone sensors, but Sony has confirmed to Android Authority that this deal will indeed include phone camera sensors.

“Yes, the partnership covers next-generation image sensors, starting with applications for smartphone camera (sic). The partnership will also explore future applications in Physical AI such as robotics and automotive,” a Sony representative told us.

The representative also acknowledged that Sony currently designs and manufactures its own image sensors:

Sony has built its image sensor business on its own design, and development capabilities, as well as manufacturing expertise in our own fab in Japan. This JV [joint venture – ed] is positioned as a framework to broaden our options in how we advance investment and development, by combining Sony’s image sensor design and development technologies with TSMC’s advanced process technology and manufacturing know-how.

In other words, Sony will be leaning on TSMC and its more advanced process nodes to manufacture image sensors, including smartphone camera sensors.

What does this mean for smartphone users?

This sounds like encouraging news for smartphone cameras, as TSMC’s more advanced manufacturing could result in more efficient camera sensors. For what it’s worth, the Sony LYT-818 sensor used in phones like the vivo X200 Pro and X300 Pro is built on a 22nm manufacturing process. Vivo indeed claimed that this sensor offered improved power efficiency. Sony’s IMX989, which is a first-generation one-inch smartphone camera sensor, is reportedly built on a 40nm process.

So I’m expecting more power savings if Sony uses even smaller process nodes for future smartphone cameras. That’s good news for battery life while using the camera app. However, I also imagine that a more advanced manufacturing process could result in reduced heating while using the cameras. This could, in turn, deliver fewer dropped frames when recording video, as well as the ability to capture high-quality video for longer.

It’s also worth noting that a smaller manufacturing process doesn’t mean a physically smaller image sensor size. So Sony wouldn’t be sacrificing light intake and image quality in general by using a smaller, more advanced process node. Nevertheless, we’re looking forward to the first smartphone camera sensors as part of this Sony/TSMC partnership.