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One of the biggest reasons I love the Galaxy S26 Ultra is that it offers one of the most robust camera systems around. Even though Samsung has consistently provided a quadruple camera setup with its flagship models, there may be a big shakeup with next year’s Galaxy S27 Ultra. According to a report from leaker Ice Universe, the company could finally ditch the 3x optical zoom camera entirely from the Galaxy S27 Ultra's arsenal.
This would undoubtedly be a big change, but it’s something that doesn't entirely surprise me for a number of reasons. If Samsung wants to continue having the best camera phone around, the decision to drop this long-established camera needs to be backed by a more significant upgrade. Here’s why this aging and redundant camera finally needs to go.
It’s the camera I use the least
By now, I’ve probably shot over a thousand photos on Samsung phones dating back to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, when Samsung first introduced two telephoto cameras in its flagship. Since then, I can tell you that the 3x telephoto is the one I use the least out of the bunch — and that’s still true with the current Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Article continues belowThe use case for the 3x zoom camera is very limited, and it’s taking up space that could be used for something else.
For most zoom shots, I predominantly default to the 50MP 5x telephoto shooter. The only time I ever need to fall back on the 10MP 3x telephoto camera is if I’m trying to shoot something a little closer, ensuring the subject is still in frame and not as tightly cropped as it would be with the 5x zoom camera.
My point is that the use case for the 3x zoom camera is very limited, and it’s taking up space that could be used for something else. Honestly, I’ve never understood Samsung’s logic for keeping the 3x telephoto camera — especially after switching things up with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
When Samsung was still offering a 10x optical zoom, it made sense to keep the 3x because of how it acted as a buffer. But now that they've reverted to a 5x optical zoom, it doesn’t make sense to keep the 3x one.
AI is already shaking up zoom performance
While hardware is still paramount to a camera’s performance, I’ve seen how AI is increasingly closing the gap. Google has already proven this with the Pro Res Zoom feature on the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL. The results are night and day, as you can see in the photo I captured above.
I originally shot it at 100x, but the transformation is unbelievable because it took a soft, grainy photo of the woman and processed it to look as though it were shot with the main camera at a much closer distance.
Samsung wouldn’t be wrong to ditch the 3x telephoto camera and instead rely on a combination of sensor cropping from the Galaxy S27 Ultra’s rumored 200MP main camera and AI to reconstruct detail. Personally, I don’t think it would even be necessary to rely heavily on AI, as a 200MP sensor leaves plenty of room for cropping without significant detail loss. But that leads me to my final point.
Going back to a 10x optical zoom
Samsung stirred up controversy when it was revealed that the Galaxy S24 Ultra was dropping the 10MP 10x optical zoom camera in favor of a 50MP 5x one. I’ve put the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra zooms to the test, and it was clear to me that no amount of sensor cropping could truly match the fidelity of a dedicated optical zoom.
Based on recent leaked renders of the Galaxy S27 Ultra — which gives it a more Pixel-like aesthetic — Samsung could use the extra physical space to bring back the one upgrade I want most: a 10x optical zoom. If Samsung introduces a feature similar to Google’s Pro Res Zoom, it could lean on AI to enhance practically every photo it takes.
This would be incredibly valuable for shots captured between 5x and 10x, and anything beyond 30x zoom, much like the Pixel 10 Pro series. I specifically call out the Galaxy S27 Ultra to get this upgrade over the rumored Galaxy S27 Pro because the top-of-the-line model deserves the best hardware.
Similar to how Apple differentiates the Pro and Pro Max, Samsung’s duo could follow a similar path — with the S27 Ultra costing more but offering superior hardware, specifically a 10x optical zoom shooter instead of a 5x one. I hope I'm right!
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