The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is coming next year, and we’ve already started hearing a bunch of rumors about the upcoming phone, including a redesign that could see the camera layout change drastically for the first time in years. However, the latest leaks suggest that Samsung will implement much bigger changes than just the look of the camera.
In fact, it now seems as if the new look could come at the expense of Samsung’s fourth camera lens – the secondary telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. Or, at least, that’s what longtime leaker Ice Universe claims on X.
It is now confirmed that the Galaxy S27 Ultra will no longer have a 3x telephoto camera. This means that its rear camera system jumps directly from the 1× main camera to the 5× telephoto camera.September 29, 2026
Ice Universe notes that the camera app now jumps from 1x magnification on the main lens, right to 5x magnification on the soon-to-be-solo telephoto lens. So there’s no optical zoom between the two, although the main lens presumably still offers the 2x “optical quality” digital zoom that’s become so popular on flagship phones in recent years.
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Ice has stuck with previous claims that the telephoto camera itself will remain unchanged, with the same 5x 50MP lens currently available Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. This also means that the long-standing rumors that Samsung will offer some kind of variable optical zoom probably won’t happen next year.
The software could also change
Modern smartphone photography involves much more than having lots of megapixels or fancy lenses. Software is an integral part of the process, and the Galaxy S27 Ultra is tipped to make some big changes there as well.
Exclusive, detailed leak: Compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Galaxy S27 Ultra brings three very noticeable changes to its camera processing: 1. The overall color tone has clearly changed from cool to warm This is the most obvious change, and something you almost notice…September 29, 2026
Samsung is also set to provide better highlight control for small, bright objects, such as illuminated text or distant light sources. According to Ice, the S26 Ultra struggles to suppress these highlights, causing lost detail and overexposure in the final photo. The S27 Ultra should, in theory, control the extra brightness and maintain the clarity of the shot.
Finally, Samsung is apparently working to reduce noise in dark areas and provide a smoother image all around. This makes perfect sense, as Samsung has done a lot of work to improve low-light capabilities and reduce photo noise over the past few years, with the help of AI. So there is little reason to expect it to stop suddenly without warning.
Overall, this should give us better photos with a cleaner image across light and shadow, plus a warmer tone that doesn’t look as harsh as the current cool-looking Samsung-processed photos.
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