Galaxy S26 Ultra camera: Samsung apparently fixes a few issues

It has become fairly quiet around the successors to the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra (from $1,049 on Amazon), which may also be caused by the fact that it might take significantly longer before Samsung’s flagships will hit the market next year. The latest indications pointed to an unveiling in February and a launch in March 2026, so just over two months from now. Compared to the upgrades of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, the changes Samsung has in store for the Galaxy S26 Ultra might be rather unspectacular.

The upgraded 3x telephoto camera is equipped with the only new sensor, and even that could disappoint many customers, as Ice Universe has emphasized for months. Nevertheless, Samsung could still make meaningful improvements with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s quad camera, as a recent Weibo post suggests. According to earlier indications, the significantly brighter optics of the upcoming camera flagship appear to be getting an improved coating to reduce artifacts such as lens flares. Samsung seemingly takes cues from Vivo or Sony, which rely on Zeiss T* coating for this exact purpose.

The camera algorithms could also get revised to correct issues such as overly yellow skin tones in photos. Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that based on the previous leaks, Samsung will probably offer one of the weakest flagship phone cameras of 2026, which will be a year when competition in the high-end smartphone segment is going to stiffen up. Alongside the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, the Vivo X300 Ultra will also be hunting for market share in Europe for the first time, while the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is expected to attract attention globally with an optical 10x zoom and two 200MP sensors.