The Galaxy S27 Ultra loses the right zoom—but keeps the wrong one

The Galaxy S27 Ultra—Samsung's maxed-out flagship for 2027—is in the "gaining by losing" business per current rumors.

It'll likely have a single telephoto camera on the back, which means that the Galaxy S26 Ultra could turn out to be the last Samsung flagship to have a total of four snappers on its back. On paper, that sounds like a tragedy, but in reality, it's not.

However, I do have some mixed feelings about the camera that remains there.

The current state of (rumored) affairs

This year's Galaxy S26 Ultra came with the following camera setup:

• 200 MP main
• 10 MP 3× telephoto
• 50 MP 5× telephoto
• 50 MP ultra-wide
• 12 MP selfie

Per the latest leaks, the Galaxy S27 Ultra will lose the 3× telephoto and will only come with the 5× telephoto on board.

Relax!

This isn't a tragedy, since some excellent camera phones don't rely on two dedicated telephoto cameras in the first place. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is a good example. It uses a single 200 MP telephoto camera with roughly 3.2×–4.2× optical zoom vario, a bright aperture and, most importantly, a much larger 1/1.4-inch sensor.

Compare that to Samsung's current 3× telephoto on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It's built around a 10 MP Sony IMX754 sensor measuring just 1/3.94 inches, paired with an f/2.4 aperture and 1.12μm pixels. That's a tiny sensor by flagship standards, especially in 2026. Xiaomi's sensor has nearly three times the linear dimensions and dramatically more surface area to gather light, while the 200 MP resolution gives it far more room to crop without falling apart.

That translates into cleaner images in low light, better dynamic range, more detail and significantly more flexibility. A high-resolution sensor also allows manufacturers to simulate different zoom levels through sensor cropping while still producing images that remain sharp. Samsung's 10 MP 3× camera simply doesn't have that luxury. Once lighting conditions become less than ideal, the small sensor quickly becomes the limiting factor.

Glad to see it gone

That's why I'm not particularly sad to see Samsung retire the 3×. For some time, this camera has felt like legacy hardware that survived mostly because Samsung wanted to keep advertising "four rear cameras".

The part I'm less convinced about is Samsung's decision to keep the 5× telephoto instead.

A 5× camera certainly has its place. It's excellent for wildlife, concerts, architecture and pulling distant subjects closer. But most people use their telephoto lens for portraits, and that's where 3× tends to be the sweet spot. At around 70-80 mm equivalent, you can comfortably frame a person without standing halfway across the room. Perspective compression looks natural, facial features remain flattering and shooting indoors is much easier.

The trouble with 5×

A 5× lens pushes you much farther away from your subject. That's fine outdoors, but inside a restaurant, a living room or an office, you often simply don't have enough space. The stronger compression can also make portraits feel slightly less natural unless that's the look you're specifically after.

That's why I think Samsung is keeping the wrong telephoto camera.

What I'd do

If I could redesign the Galaxy S27 Ultra's camera system, I'd start from scratch and replace both existing zoom cameras with a single, modern 4× telephoto. That feels like the sweet spot between Samsung's current 3× and 5× approach.

A 4× lens remains perfectly usable for portraits while giving you more reach for travel photography, landscapes and everyday zoom shots. Pair it with a large, modern sensor—something much closer to what Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are doing—and Samsung could comfortably rely on sensor cropping to cover everything to roughly 9×–10×. That's where most people actually take photos anyway.

Let's be honest: very few users regularly shoot at 20× or 30×. Those huge digital zoom numbers make for flashy marketing slides, but they aren't where most memories are captured. I'd much rather Samsung invest in one exceptional telephoto camera with excellent image quality than keep multiple mediocre ones just to inflate the spec sheet.

Back on Earth

Of course, Samsung probably isn't going to redesign its camera system because one journo thinks a 4× lens would be ideal.

Still, dropping the aging 10 MP 3× camera is a step in the right direction. The only condition is that Samsung doesn't simply remove hardware to save space or reduce costs. The remaining 5× camera has to receive a meaningful upgrade—a larger sensor, improved optics and better image processing—to justify carrying the entire telephoto workload on its own.

Otherwise, it risks looking more like Samsung is throwing ballast overboard. Not a very flagship move by any stretch of the imagination.

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