Galaxy S26 series could bring thinner design & sharper zoom

Lately, Samsung has decided to focus on thinness as a key aspect in its Galaxy mobile devices. The company began "experimenting" with this path with the Galaxy Z Fold SE, and it is said that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will also be incredibly thin. That said, it seems that Samsung will also significantly reduce the thickness of the Galaxy S26 series, in addition to equipping it with an improved 3x telephoto sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S26 series could be thinner than ever

According to a recent report, both the standard Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus will boast a thickness of around 6.x mm. Meanwhile, the top-tier Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to come in at approximately 7.x mm. To put that into perspective, the current Galaxy S25 Ultra measures a noticeable 8.2 mm, the S25 Plus sits at 7.3 mm, and the standard S25 at 7.2 mm. That's a potentially significant reduction across the board.

Interestingly, this slimming down might be thanks to some clever engineering in the camera department. Previous reports hinted that Samsung is exploring a new structure for their camera optics, which could allow them to reduce the overall thickness of the devices. 

New 3x telephoto lens

But the potential upgrades don't stop at the waistline. The Galaxy S26 series is also rumored to feature an improved 3x telephoto lens. Currently, the entire Galaxy S25 lineup, including the mighty Ultra, sports a 10MP 3x telephoto lens as part of its rear camera system. However, the S26 series could see a bump in resolution to 12MP for this particular lens. While the current S25 Ultra's 3x telephoto sensor is larger than its smaller siblings and delivers good results, a resolution increase across the range could mean sharper zoomed-in shots for everyone in the S26 family.

Of course, these are still early whispers, and the final design and specifications could always change. We'll be keeping our ears to the ground for more concrete details as we get closer to the expected launch.