Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra just tipped for this big camera upgrade

A render of the Galaxy S24 Ultra from the back and front in black

(Image credit: Technizo Concept)

Even with the possible early arrival of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series isn’t expected until the start of 2024. But according to a joint reveal from SamMobile and Galaxy Club, the handset will come in three sizes with a significant upgrade to the Galaxy S24 Ultra model.

The fact that there will likely be three models isn’t really a surprise, given the Ultra variant has been a staple of Galaxy S launches since the Galaxy S20 arrived in 2020.

Nonetheless, the sites have found evidence that the S24 Ultra has the codename Muse3, which hints at the existence of a Muse1 and Muse2 — presumably the vanilla S24 and S24 Plus.

That’s good news for fans of the Plus, given a report in January suggested Samsung was considering axing it for its 2024 flagship range.

For those who like to read things into device codenames and want to guess at what ‘Muse’ might hint at, recent internal names have included ‘Hubble’ (S20), ‘Unbound’ (S21), ‘Rainbow’ (S22) and Diamond (S23).

Galaxy S24 Ultra in line for a camera upgrade

More significant than the range of devices is one specific upgrade tipped for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Both sites claim that this top-end model will get a telephoto lens with a 5x optical zoom, which will presumably replace the 10MP, 3x optical zoom on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Assuming the others remain the same, that would mean that the new 5x zoom would join the 10x sensor, limiting the gap needed to be filled with digital zoom.

The S23 Ultra already has a 200MP main sensor, ensuring its current position at the very top of our list of the best camera phones, so it seems unlikely that sensor will change.

Aside from this, we’re not expecting huge changes to the Galaxy S family next year, beyond the annual Qualcomm chip upgrade. Even the design looks set to stay the same, with Samsung sticking rigidly to its winning formula.

Of course, there’s still plenty of time for more leaks to emerge, given we’re likely over six months away from go time. Before then, we’ve got another Galaxy Unpacked event to look forward to next month, where we’re fully expecting to see the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Tab S9 make an appearance.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. He also handles all the Wordle coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game for the last several years in an effort to keep his streak forever intact.