We know everything about the cameras in Galaxy S26 Ultra! They will please and disappoint at the same time

When the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra retained the same camera as the S23 Ultra, it was understandable. When Samsung did the same with the S25 Ultra, it started to become suspicious. And now, leaks of Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specifications suggest that the Korean giant has no plans to improve the camera for the third time either.

According to information from a well-known leaker, the 2026 flagship will retain an almost identical camera setup as this year’s model. The only change concerns the 3× telephoto lens, which will receive a slightly better sensor. The rest? Copy, paste, sell.

HP2 in its third year: An Ultra sensor that is no longer Ultra

The main camera of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to once again rely on the 200MP Samsung HP2 sensor. This is the same chip that debuted in the Galaxy S23 Ultra in early 2023. At the time, it was impressive hardware; today, it’s simply average.

Galaxy S26 Ultra sensors debugged details:
200MP HP2
50MP JN3 ultrawide
12MP S5K3LD 3x tele
50MP IMX854 peris 5x
12MP IMX874 selfie
Only change this time is the traditional 10MP 3x 1/1.39 size sensor is replaced by newer 12MP K3LD. Rest are the exact same as 25U

— yawn (@chunvn8888) November 6, 2025

The ultrawide lens remains at 50 MP with the Samsung JN3 chip, which is again recycled hardware. The periscopic telephoto lens with 5× optical zoom and a 50MP Sony IMX854 sensor also remains unchanged. And the selfie camera? 12MP Sony IMX874 — the same as last year.

The telephoto lens finally gets an upgrade. A little

The only hardware change concerns the 3× telephoto lens, which is expected to switch from a 10MP sensor to a 12MP Samsung S5K3LD. This is a partial improvement that should bring slightly better details at medium zoom. However, the problem with the 3× telephoto lens was never so much the resolution, but primarily the aperture and sensor quality — and here Samsung has remained passive.

As a bonus, the S26 Ultra is expected to offer a new APV video codec. We informed you about it in a separate article, but essentially it’s a response to Apple ProRes. The new Snapdragon also supports it hardware-wise.

What does this mean for buyers?

If you have a Galaxy S23 Ultra or S24 Ultra, upgrading to the S26 Ultra makes virtually no sense from a camera perspective. If you are considering the S25 Ultra, feel free to get it — the camera will be similarly good as on the S26 Ultra, and you’ll save money.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected in late February 2026. The official price has not yet been confirmed, but it can be assumed that the starting price will again be around 35,000 CZK for the basic 256 GB variant.

Does it bother you that Samsung hasn’t innovated its camera for the third year in a row?

Source: GSMArena, chunvn888, AndroidHeadlines