Samsung Galaxy S26: Smart camera features instead of new camera hardware
Since the Galaxy S24 two years ago, Samsung has focused primarily on one theme when it comes to its smartphones: Galaxy AI. The generative AI features, symbolized by the four stars, are meant to represent all sorts of innovations, but how well they actually perform in everyday use is debatable. Especially in the camera area, much of it remains simply gimmicky, such as being able to draw a spaceship in a photo, which then magically transforms into a real one, as a recent teaser video from Samsung is now promoting once again for the upcoming Galaxy S26 series:
The rather sobering reality of camera hardware
While Samsung's recent teaser article for the Galaxy S26 series launch hints at "the brightest Galaxy camera system ever," made possible via significantly larger aperture values on two of the five cameras, as leaks have repeatedly suggested, we otherwise expect only minimal changes to the camera hardware. As recently confirmed, two of the five camera sensors in the Galaxy S26 Ultra will indeed be replaced, but this will likely have a minimal impact on the quality of photos and videos, as the new sensors offer no improvements in pixel size or number.
So, even in 2026, a 10 MP sensor with an industry-leadingly tiny 1/3.94-inch sensor will be responsible for 3x portrait mode in a flagship camera phone. The selfie camera is also apparently being replaced, but fans shouldn't expect a "smarter" front camera like the Centerstage camera in Apple's iPhone 17 generation, let alone 50 MP front cameras or even innovative 200 MP zoom cameras with variable focal lengths, such as those found on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
New Galaxy AI Features for the Galaxy S26
Instead, Samsung is focusing on smarter editing of photos and videos taken directly from the camera app. The new Galaxy AI option of turning a daylight shot into a night shot sounds quite practical, and the option of adding missing details to a scene, such as parts of a bitten cupcake, may also be useful. Samsung also highlights that users will be able combine multiple photos into one, all probably at the touch of a button in the Galaxy camera app. A pity, however, that the hardware has changed so little over the years. A 10 MP 3x telephoto lens has been available since the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the 200 MP sensor has been unchanged since the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and a 5,000 mAh battery of the same size has been providing power since the Galaxy S20 Ultra.
Source(s)
Samsung, own
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