Galaxy S26 Ultra: Samsung tipped to delve into the vaults for camera upgrade

Ice Universe has weighed in on the state of camera upgrades planned for Samsung's next Ultra smartphone. In recent years, the company has shied away from changing out the primary camera hardware on its premier smartphone. Instead, it has focused on upgrading other sensors, such as the 50 MP ultra-wide in this year's Galaxy S25 Ultra (curr. $1,149.97 on Amazon).

Allegedly, that could change with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which Samsung is expected to deliver next January. However, the company may be delving into the archives rather than bringing something truly new to the table.

According to Ice Universe, Samsung is considering returning to a variable aperture primary camera, a version of which it most recently offered in 2019 with the Galaxy S10 Plus. For context, the device offered an f/1.5-f/2.4 variable aperture, which is a far cry from the f/1.6-f/4.0 provided by the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

Nonetheless, a return to a variable aperture camera would help Samsung distinguish the Galaxy S26 Ultra from its predecessor, particularly given the general lack of other hardware changes between generations. This would also be true when comparing the Galaxy S26 Ultra against its eventual rivals and their lack of variable aperture support; Xiaomi removed this feature from the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. At this stage though, we would treat this rumour with some caution considering the lack of evidence, despite it being put forth by a leaker as well known as Ice Universe.