Will the HTC A9/Hima Aero feature a 13 UltraPixel camera?

We’ve been hearing about HTC’s upcoming “hero” product for the fall after the not-so-impressive performance of the HTC One M9 in the market. Codenamed Hima Aero, the new phone is expected to be part of the 2015 HTC One family. Prominent leakers have already been liking the design of the phone and claiming that it is awesome. Also, Aero will be featuring a “ground breaking” camera technology which would exceed HTC Ultrapixel technology which utilizes a 4MP sensor with huge 2µm pixel size, resulting into surface area of 4 micron pixel size (2µm x 2µm, as pixels are square) which allows humongous amount of light to be absorbed by the sensor. Hence, allowing users to take crisp low light shots.

HTC’s Ultrapixel prowess started with Omnivision and now it has gone a step further. The latest and greatest from Omnivision was announced recently and it seems to be really phenomenal.

When I read it for the first time, I was baffled, “Wait a minute, THIRTEEN ULTRAPIXELS? What sorcery is this?”

It was always asked that why Ultrapixel tech is confined to only 4MP. It was due to numerous facts and limitations. One of the major limitation was size. No doubt Ultrapixels are huge but if it’s megapixel count is increased, the sensor will turn out to be colossal and hence, difficult to fit inside a smartphone.

I wonder what unicorn magic Omnivision did but they will be launching 2 camera sensors namely OV13880 and OV5880 which will feature 4 micron pixels!

Omnivision OV13880 specs:

• 1/2.4″ 13MP Stacked PureCel-S Sensor
• 4-micron Pixels, 1/2.4″ sensor size (same size as other 21MP 1.12-micron sensors)
• PDAF + 240Hz two-dimensional contrast AF
• Buried Color Filter Array (similar to Samsung’s ISOCELL technology)
• Capable of recording 4K videos at 60 FPS, along with recording 1080p videos at 240 FPS (for all that slow motion goodness!)
• OmniVision Clear Pixel 2.0 technology (Red-Clear-Blue-Clear Color Filter Array)

Omnivision OV5880 specs:

• 1/4″ 5MP Stacked PureCel-S Sensor
• 4-micron Pixels, 1/4″ sensor size (same size as other 8MP 1.12-micron sensors)
• PDAF + 120Hz two-dimensional contrast AF
• Buried Color Filter Array (similar to Samsung’s ISOCELL technology)
• Capable of recording UHD or 1440p videos at 60 FPS, along with recording 1080p videos at 120 FPS (for all that slow motion goodness!)
• Optional EIS when capturing photos/videos in 16:9 instead of 4:3
• OmniVision Clear Pixel 2.0 technology (Red-Clear-Blue-Clear Color Filter Array)

Looking at the specs, one can clearly see the bump in camera tech. 4K is approximately 8MP and considering OV13880 is 13MP, 4K in 60FPS and 1080p in 240FPS seems to be pretty damn good!

Although there is no word on when these will feature in smartphones,  initial production is set to kick off sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. In my opinion, these camera sensors are nothing short of “ground breaking”.

What do you think? If the Omnivision OV13880 is available in time, should HTC use it for the HTC Hima Aero or should they save the new UltraPixel sensor for next year’s HTC One M10?