This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
It seems the Galaxy S27 Ultra might bring back a well-forgotten camera feature. | Image by PhoneArena
In the past few years or so, few things have been as certain as Samsung following Apple's decisions to the T.
The iPhone 15 Pro went titanium, and then the Galaxy S24 Ultra went titanium; two years later, the iPhone 17 Pro went aluminum, and lo and behold, the Galaxy S26 Ultra went aluminum as well. The Galaxy Watch Ultra was more similar to the Apple Watch Ultra than it wasn’t, and so on.
As the current market leader, it’s Apple’s market influence that dictates modern design and feature trends, and Samsung opts to openly copy and imitate rather than go its own way.
Samsung shows no signs of stopping its favorite game called “follow Apple”
A few weeks ago, in fact, the news broke out that Samsung might dust off one superb but largely forgotten feature of its Galaxy S9 flagship from back in the day - variable aperture – and bring it to the Galaxy S27 Ultra early next year.
It’s definitely a great functionality to have as it expands the camera’s capabilities in diverse lighting situations and could surely deliver more natural results than on-device HDR and AI-assisted sharpening ever could.
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The Galaxy S9 series, back when Samsung phones were still fun | Image by PhoneArena
Okay, but why now? Why bring this old Galaxy S9 feature out of retirement?
Samsung's future lies in… its past?
The reason is Apple, and nothing else.
It’s been months since we’ve heard the rumors that the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro range might feature variable aperture on its wide camera, and it would be naive to assume Samsung hasn’t been aware of these rumors way before the wider tech bubble got the scoop.
I find all of this extremely ironic. Although the Nokia N86 8MP had a variable aperture more than decade and a half ago, Samsung could be regarded as the de facto “inventor” behind variable apertures on modern Android smartphones with the Galaxy S9 range in 2018. In low-light situations, the aperture opens up to let more light in, but when the light is ample, the aperture closes down to deliver a sharper image and faster focusing speed.
However, we didn’t really find the Galaxy S9’s variable aperture to be doing a decent job, and struggled to find any significant differences between the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S8 back in the day.
This, combined with the extra thickness added to the camera module, likely sealed the fate of the variable aperture feature, which was dropped starting with the Galaxy S20 range, when Samsung switched its efforts to making thinner devices.
And yet, as Apple is now readying itself to release an iPhone with variable aperture, Samsung has no choice but to follow suit in order to keep the feature parity between its and Apple’s flagships intact.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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