Samsung is reportedly testing an unconventional fix for a Galaxy S26 Ultra camera flaw

Galaxy S27 Ultra photos could come out a lot cleaner around bright lights, if a new leak turns out to be right. Samsung is reportedly testing AI software that wipes away lens flare, a problem that still shows up on the Galaxy S26 Ultra (one of the best camera phones you can buy) despite Samsung's earlier hardware fixes.

Samsung is testing an AI fix for lens flare

The leak comes from a tipster who goes by kro on X, who posted what he called an exclusive. According to his post, Galaxy devices still have some lens flare, but Samsung is currently testing prototype software with AI processing to deal with it.

He also claimed the results are very clean, with the flare almost completely removed. However, the post doesn't name a Galaxy model or say when this software could arrive.



I'm not familiar with kro's track record, so I'd treat this as an early tip for now.

Coating, then ink, now software: why lens flare won't go away

Before the Galaxy S26 Ultra launched, we heard it would get an improved lens coating to cut down on flare, and in August, we learned the Galaxy S27 Ultra would reportedly use matte ink printed onto its lenses for the same reason.

To understand why flare is so hard to beat, it helps to know what's inside a phone camera. A single camera usually stacks six to eight small lens elements, and when bright light hits them at an angle, it can bounce between those elements and off the edges that hold them in place.

That stray light is what shows up as halos, streaks or a hazy glow in your photo. Coatings, light-blocking film and Samsung's matte ink all try to stop it in the hardware, before it ever reaches the sensor.

Software works the other way around, cleaning up the photo after it's taken. Google Research showed how this can work back in 2021, training a neural network on pairs of images with and without flare so it learns what flare looks like and removes it.

In practice, a good AI fix should give you cleaner night photos without quietly deleting the lights you meant to capture.

What this could mean for Galaxy S26 Ultra and S27 Ultra owners

If you're planning to buy the Galaxy S27 Ultra, this is good news, since flare tends to show up in exactly the moments people care about, like concerts, city streets at night and sunsets.

As for current owners, a software fix isn't tied to new lenses, so I wouldn't rule out older Galaxy flagships getting it later.

I'd still like Samsung to fix the glass too

A software fix for lens flare is welcome, and if the results really are as clean as kro claims, a lot of night photos will look better for it. But I'd feel better if Samsung paired it with the hardware changes it has already been working on, since software can only clean up what the lenses let through.

Personally, I'd love to see the Galaxy S27 Ultra launch with both the matte ink and this AI cleanup, plus a simple toggle for those times when I want to keep a bit of flare for the mood.

More on the Galaxy S27 Ultra camera:

• How matte ink could slim down the Galaxy S27 Ultra cameras
• Everything we know about the Galaxy S27 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

• Follow me on X and Threads

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