Galaxy S26 Ultra leak hints at a surprising downgrade to its zoom camera

What you need to know

• Galaxy S26 Ultra may downgrade its 3x telephoto zoom camera compared to S25 Ultra.
• Leak suggests the new 12MP sensor will be cropped down to 10MP for telephoto shots.
• The S26 Ultra sensor may have smaller 1.0μm pixels, letting in less light overall.
• This could mean weaker 3x photo quality in low-light conditions versus the S25 Ultra.

It's been only a day since the iPhone 17 series went official, and we already have news about Samsung's upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of update you'd want to hear, as a new leak suggests the Galaxy S26 Ultra may take a step back with its 3x telephoto zoom camera.

Earlier reports indicated that Samsung might switch to a new 12MP sensor for the 3x telephoto zoom on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Many assumed this would mean crisper zoom and close-up shots. However, according to reliable tipster Ice Universe, Samsung will crop the 12MP down to just 10MP on the new sensor.

The leaker claims the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use only 10MP (of the 12MP available) with an f/2.4 aperture, a 1/3.94" sensor size, and 1.0μm pixels. While this may sound similar to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which also used a 10MP 3x telephoto sensor, it could result in a downgraded experience overall.

Smaller pixels may hurt low-light performance

To break it down, the Galaxy S25 Ultra had a 1/3.53" 10MP sensor with 1.12μm pixel size. The Galaxy S26 Ultra may use a larger sensor, but with smaller 1.0μm pixels. For reference, the pixel size determines how much light is captured — the larger the number, the more light and typically the better the photos.

With the Galaxy S26 Ultra scaling back to smaller pixels, the new sensor could let in less light than its predecessor, leading to weaker 3x shots in low-light conditions.

Of course, Samsung could offset this with software optimizations and an improved ISP, but based purely on hardware, it looks like we may be in for a slight downgrade on the next Ultra flagship.

Past rumors about the Galaxy S26 Ultra suggest the phone will keep the S Pen, adopt a slimmer build, and support faster 60W charging.

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