Galaxy S27 Ultra's zoom photography could take a turn for the better

Samsung's next flagship phone may have a radically different camera indeed.

Rear view of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, placed on a wooden table.
Galaxy S26 Ultra for illustrative purposes. | Image by PhoneArena
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    The Galaxy S27 Ultra may not come with two telephoto cameras, but it might actually be better at capturing zoom photos than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. A fresh leak suggests that ditching the 10MP 3x telephoto unit may actually be a blessing in disguise.

Galaxy S27 Ultra could offer better zoom quality




X tipster @phonefuturist claims Samsung is currently evaluating a super telephoto camera with 4x zoom and a 1/1.9-inch sensor. Supposedly, this new unit may be included in the upcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra

If the rumor turns out to be correct (and the South Korean giant actually includes it in its upcoming flagship phone), we may be looking at a radically different camera setup.

For context, Samsung uses a 200MP main lens, 50MP ultra-wide, 10MP 3x zoom and 50MP 5x periscope telephoto with a 1/2.5-inch sensor in the S26 Ultra. With the 10MP 3x reportedly out of the game and the other telephoto sensor handling 4x zoom levels instead of 5x, the Galaxy S27 Ultra may capture zoom photos a lot differently than its predecessor. 

We should keep in mind that the S27 Ultra won't be debuting for several months, so it's too early to be certain that this will indeed be the final telephoto camera. Still, it would be interesting to see what kind of effect it might have on the zoom photography capabilities of the upcoming Android flagship.

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Which Galaxy S27 Ultra rumor would you least like to see come true?
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Catching up or setting a new trend?



Let's suppose the rumor is true for a minute. Would that give the S27 Ultra an advantage over its biggest rivals from Google and Apple? 

Google's latest Pixel 11 Pro XL comes with a big camera upgrade, featuring a much bigger 1/1.93-inch sensor for its periscope camera. Clearly, Samsung's push would be a catch-up to Google's hardware rather than a challenge to it. 

Meanwhile, the latest iPhone 17 Pro Max uses a significantly smaller telephoto camera with a 1/2.55-inch unit. However, it offers 4x zoom levels, meaning that the S27 Ultra won't be the only (or first) globally available flagship offering 4x zoom levels. 

Things are much more interesting elsewhere. The Vivo X500 Pro Max, for instance, may not have been announced yet, but we already know it'll feature a 200MP telephoto camera that puts all the rest to shame with its massive 1/1.4-inch sensor.

 
And in case you're after more Galaxy S27 Ultra-related news:
 

Would the bigger telephoto camera give the S27 Ultra an advantage?



If Samsung ditches the 5x zoom lens in favor of a 4x unit with a bigger physical size, it could potentially deliver much better image quality, particularly in low-light conditions. 

It could also allow the S27 Ultra to deliver cleaner images without the need for heavy post-image processing. Still, the end result will depend on which lens Samsung utilizes and what kind of behind-the-scenes optimizations it employs.

Is this the best direction?


For years, the Galaxy S Ultra models were part of a select group of phones with a quad-camera setup. Now, that might finally be changing (for the better). 

While adding a 4x zoom camera instead of 5x might mean Samsung's upcoming flagship relies on more AI to capture clean photos at extreme distances, the overall camera setup is shaping up to be a breath of fresh air for the first time in a while.

Frankly, I can't wait to see what the rumored changes could mean for the Galaxy S27 Ultra's camera capabilities.

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