Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to be thinner with new camera optics

While the main camera on Samsung's 2026 flagship phone - the Galaxy S26 Ultra - may stay the same in terms of sensor pixel count, the company is reportedly preparing other hardware changes to make it better.

Closer to the Galaxy S26 Ultra announcement, Samsung could unveil a new 1/1.3-inch ISOCELL sensor, as it has been using the current HP2 that the Galaxy S25 Ultra carries since 2023.

Every three years is the timeframe Samsung usually follows for upgrades to the Galaxy S line cameras, so the one in the Galaxy S26 Ultra is said to come with optimized pixel structure that will ostensibly increase its light sensitivity, as well as new optics.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra camera

A new report now sheds some light on what the rumored Galaxy S26 series camera optics upgrade could entail. Korean industry insiders reveal that Samsung has invented a new lens production method that makes the whole phone camera assembly thinner.

Instead of using cover films between the rib surfaces of the lens to prevent flare and ghosting artifacts reaching the sensor and distorting the image, Samsung will now use inkjet printing. This will allow a much thinner anti-ghosting layer to sit between the multiple lenses in modern phone camera optics, hence make the whole camera unit more compact.

Since the camera assembly is the thickest component in a flagship handset, not only would a smaller module allow for a slimmer body, but it would also shave off the camera protrusion on the back for a more elegant overall appearance.

The new printed lens production method would thus let Samsung follow the trend it set with the slim Galaxy S25 Edge that will be released on May 30th, but can already be preordered on Amazon with a $170 discount.

Thin phones are trending, and Samsung is not only rumored to replace the Plus line of handsets with an S26 Edge model next year, but also try and slim down the whole Galaxy S26 lineup.

The Galaxy S25 Edge is just 0.23 inches (5.8 mm) thin despite carrying a 200 MP camera sensor. The Galaxy S26 Ultra main camera, however, may carry a sensor of the same size but don more complex optics, so Samsung will need every invention it could think of to make the module slimmer and the S26 Ultra more compact as a result.