Editorials · Reviewer Insight
Galaxy S27 Ultra has fewer cameras, and it's the best upgrade in years
Galaxy S27 Ultra camera downgrade? No, this is addition by subtraction!
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
To move forward, you have to shed off weight. | Image by PhoneArena
I'm happy that Samsung will transition from a quad- to a triple-camera on the Galaxy S27 Ultra, and I wouldn't miss the short 3X telephoto one bit. In fact, I'm ecstatic to see it go
There I said it, it's off my chest.
I don't understand why Samsung hadn't removed the useless 3X telephoto earlier. It has been a liability that didn't bring any added value.
Sure, it's sacrilegious to praise downgrades as a phone reviewer in the "big '26", as the youth would say, but pruning this telephoto camera is the best thing Samsung could do for the Galaxy S27 Ultra.
I hope it's actually the first step in finally giving us a camera system worthy of the "Ultra" suffix.
Samsung's short telephoto has been historically terrible
Samsung became a member of a very exclusive club of manufacturers that put quad cameras in their flagship phones once the Galaxy S21 Ultra rolled out. This camera has been on all Samsung flagships since, but it never really got a sensible upgrade and remained stuck at a paltry 10MP resolution and claustrophobic f/2.4 aperture which simply doesn't cut it anymore.
Somehow, this wasn't the biggest offender. Sensor sizes actually degraded in time. Ironically, the Galaxy S21 Ultra had the most impressive 3X telephoto specs-wise as it debuted with a 1/3.24" ISOCELL sensor. With the Galaxy S22 Ultra, this one was substituted for a smaller 1/3.52" Sony sensor, and Samsung once again transitioned to an even smaller 1/3.94" ISOCELL sensor with this year's Galaxy S26 Ultra.
It's as if Samsung kept that telephoto for bragging rights only and never cared to bring actual upgrades to the camera.
Hardware isn't everything… is it?
But hey, resolution and sensor size don't necessarily mean that one camera would perform worse, right?
I definitely agree, but in the case of Samsung's flagship phones and their overall camera performance, the short telephoto has certainly been the absolute weakest link for years.
Anecdotal evidence incoming, but in my personal experience, pretty much all the short telephoto cameras on Samsung's Ultra models have delivered an unapologetic amount of color noise and artifacts. While Samsung has done a fairly decent job of matching the color science between the different cameras and sensors, the 3X telephoto is the one single camera at the back of a Galaxy S Ultra phone that's the most trigger-happy to deviate from the color science of the scene in front of you.
And don't get me started on the unimpressive sharpness and fuzzy detail, which are courtesy of Samsung insisting on upscaling every image from the 10 MP camera to a 12 MP one, because that's what happens on every Galaxy flagship.
The Galaxy S27 Ultra will achieve the same or better results easily
Having a 200 MP main camera has technically allowed Samsung to easily rely on in-sensor cropping to deliver lossless in-sensor crop all the way to 5X optical zoom, from where the 50 MP periscopes takes over. There has never been any real need for a 3X telephoto camera.
What's more, the main camera sensor sits behind a truly wide aperture (F1.4 on the Galaxy S26 Ultra), which would let in dramatically more light in comparison with the narrow F2.4 aperture in front of the laughably small 1/3.94" 3X telephoto sensor.
More light is always better, and the main camera of the Galaxy S27 Ultra will absolutely be a better choice for zooming in up to 5X as opposed to keeping the dangling telephoto for yet another year in a row.
And relying on the main camera for short-range zoom also ensures color science consistency. After all, the heavy lifting will be done by the main camera, so you won't get drastically colder or warmer tones if you zoom a little, which is something that earlier Galaxy S Ultra devices have often been guilty of.
Finally, ditching this useless camera will open up up precious internal space that could potentially be used for other purposes. Ideally, I'd love to see a drastically larger battery, but Samsung is traditionally very conservative about any major battery upgrades on its flagships, so my dreams might not become reality anytime soon.
All this ties nicely with the latest design leaks
The general design of Samsung's Galaxy S27 Ultra has already leaked out, and aside from handing over most of the Galaxy S Ultra identity, it also confirms that the short telephoto is likely no more. That's great news!
I am slightly mad that Samsung is once again going out of its way to copy the iPhone design language, because let's clearly admit it, the Galaxy S27 Ultra will be unapologetically aping the iPhone 18 Pro Max. There are other ways to design the back of the most anticipated Android flagship phone aside from plastering a massive camera plateau at the rear.
Many Chinese Android phones have already done the same, but it's a bit more "normal" to expect that from them. I've come to expect the same of Samsung when it comes to smartwatch and earbuds design (which are typically paying a lot of homage to Apple), but smartphone design was the one area in which the South Korea-based chaebol was still consistently maintaining its own design language with the Galaxy S line.
Until it wasn't.
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