Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra cameras just leaked — including a big telephoto upgrade

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera tips and tricks.
(Image credit: Future)

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera specs have been leaked by @Tech_Reve and Ahmed Qwaider, which point to one surprising change along with some other familiar specs.

According to these leaks, Samsung is changing the 10MP 10x telephoto camera of the Galaxy S23 Ultra out for a new 50MP 5x telephoto camera. While this new camera would have less zoom range than the previous Galaxy flagship, the image quality would hopefully be considerably clearer thanks to the higher resolution, so it may be a fair exchange. 

The Galaxy S24 will apparently also come with a 200MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 12MP front camera, and a 10MP 3x optical zoom telephoto camera. These would appear to be the same as on the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

According to an earlier leak from The Elec, the Galaxy S24 Ultra could have been supplied with a 10-megapixel 10x telephoto camera and a 50-megapixel 5x telephoto camera. This has been claimed as false by other leakers, however.

The corrected leak adds credence to the prior rumors of the 10x telephoto camera being removed. It will be interesting to see how the supposed 5x camera will compete with similar cameras on the Google Pixel 8 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as the alleged iPhone 16 Pro, which will reportedly offer 5x zoom on both Pro and Pro Max models

Reported Galaxy S24 Ultra photos

(Image credit: @DavidMa05368498/X)

The Galaxy S24 Ultra seems to be the only model receiving a different set of cameras in the lineup. The camera specs of the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus are reportedly the same. This is apparently due to the sluggish sales of the Plus version of the Galaxy phones, which has led the camera module supplier to view the Plus and standard model as effectively one phone.

According to reports, Samsung has also been working on improving the AI capabilities of their phones. A recent leak about One UI 6.1 features indicates that the AI will be able to expand the borders of photos and allow for seamless editing. Users will also reportedly be able to move subjects in an image around simply by dragging and dropping them, instead of needing to cut and paste them manually. 

The expected incoming launch of the Galaxy S24 series will hopefully confirm these alleged camera changes, as well as shed light on other rumored changes like the addition of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and the new flatter design of the Ultra model. Currently, it's believed that the phone will be released in January 2024.

More from Tom's Guide

Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer.