For all of those thinking of upgrading their Galaxy flagship: should you wait? The S25 Ultra is, of course, the best and most capable phone Samsung has ever sold, but isn’t that supposed to be anyway? While this year’s model largely resembles its predecessor, the S26 Ultra could be a game changer – at least when it comes to the camera.
Samsung is experimenting with different telephoto setups
While we’re still early in the release cycle, leaked information about multiple prototypes hints at a major spec bump for the imaging system. A prototype reportedly has a 3.5X and an 8X telephoto – both with 50MP sensors. They switched back to 5X zoom from 10X, but now, with the Chinese OEMs catching up and some even surpassing, it’s finally time for an upgrade.
Although the sensor size for the telephoto cameras remains similar, the resolution upgrade is still a step forward after years of stagnation. The higher resolution of the 3.5x telephoto should help improve fine detail.
But the best part? Well, the S25 Ultra can record in 8K from three cameras: 50-megapixel ultrawide, 200-megapixel main, and the 50-megapixel 5x telephoto. Since 8K recording needs at least 33 megapixels, the S25 Ultra (and its predecessors) cannot seamlessly transition between lenses when you want to capture the finest detail. By replacing the 10MP 3x sensor with a 50MP one, the S26 Ultra will finally make the seamless transition possible.
And it’s not the only configuration Samsung has been testing. According to ICE Universe, there’s another prototype with a 200MP single telephoto with 4x optical zoom, much like the vivo X200 Pro. The Galaxy S20 from 2020 actually had a similar setup — a 4x single telephoto with 48-megapixel resolution. Then, they shifted to the 3x + 10x dual telephoto setup starting with the S21 series, and they’re still using the 10-megapixel sensors to this date. Matter of fact, the 10-megapixel sensor has gotten smaller a bit — 1/3.52″ on the S25 Ultra, down from 1/3.24″ on the S21 Ultra.
Unfortunately, Samsung could only sold its ISOCELL HP9 to vivo to start the 200MP telephoto trend. Let’s see if Samsung indeed follows the trend with the S26 Ultra. Samsung could have more concepts up its sleeve—let’s see what the final product brings.
