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Samsung Galaxy S Ultra camera roadmap leaks: The S25 Ultra could be a beast
- A leaker has posted an apparent camera roadmap for the Galaxy S Ultra phones.
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra in particular could get a host of upgrades, including a variable telephoto camera.
- We’d still take these leaks with a pinch of salt given that two of these phones are over a year away.
We’ve already seen a variety of Samsung Galaxy S24 series leaks ahead of the expected launch next month. Now, a leaker has made some interesting claims regarding the camera specs of future Galaxy Ultra models.
X tipster Revegnus issued a camera roadmap of sorts for the Galaxy Ultra phones, going all the way to 2026’s Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Starting with next year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, the leaker asserts that the phone will come with a 50MP folded telephoto camera. They didn’t specify the zoom factor, though, which has been a point of contention in recent months. Various leaks and reports point to the phone having either a 3x 50MP camera or a 5x 50MP camera.
S25 Ultra to get the biggest camera upgrades?
Moving on to 2025’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, Revegnus claims that the phone will get a folded telephoto camera with “variable capabilities.” This presumably means that this telephoto camera will have variable zoom. This would be a major upgrade, allowing for consistently high image quality at a variety of zoom factors.
Samsung wouldn’t be the first to offer this feature on a conventional phone, as Sony’s Xperia phones have had variable telephoto cameras for a couple of years now. Sony’s camera ranges from 3.5x to 5.2x, but we hope Samsung’s apparent variable telephoto camera is able to cover a wider zoom range.
Otherwise, Revegnus adds the S25 Ultra will also get an upgraded main camera (specific upgrades weren’t mentioned) and a 50MP ultrawide camera. A 50MP sensor could be a solid upgrade for ultrawide snaps, allowing Samsung to use pixel-binning for clear and bright low-light snaps. A 50MP sensor would also enable 8K recording via the ultrawide camera, even with digital stabilization.
What do you want to see the most on a future Ultra phone?
Finally, the leaker asserted that 2026’s Galaxy S26 Ultra will gain an upgraded 200MP main camera. This sensor is said to be 1/1.10-inch in size and feature 0.7-micron pixels. By comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 200MP main shooter with a 1/1.3-inch sensor size and 0.6-micron pixels. This should deliver a small gain in light-gathering capability and therefore image quality, assuming everything else is the same.
Nevertheless, we’d recommend that you take the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra claims in particular with a dose of salt. These phones are still a long way away, and specs could easily change between now and launch time. After all, this same source noted in April that the Galaxy S24 Ultra would gain a 3x-10x variable telephoto camera before rescinding these claims a few months later.