Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Most Revolutionary Camera Upgrade Since the S10

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra might feature a camera upgrade not seen since the Galaxy S10 was released.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra Promises Enhanced Photographic Flexibility

The Galaxy S25 Ultra currently tops our list of best camera phones, yet Samsung appears poised to further enhance its successor by reintroducing a feature last seen in 2019.

On the Chinese social network Weibo, the renowned and typically accurate leaker Ice Universe shared that Samsung plans to “bring back variable aperture to the main camera” of the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Impact of Variable Aperture

The aperture size of a phone’s camera affects how much light reaches the sensor, impacting the available field of view. Assuming this feature is applied to the main camera, a wider aperture would create a shallow depth of field with a brighter image, while a narrower aperture could help maintain focus on closer subjects.

This could also enhance video capture by reducing unpleasant image jumps when shifting between bright and dark conditions.

A Previously Tested Feature

While it may sound niche, variable aperture provides greater flexibility in skilled hands, and Samsung has already experimented with this technology in two generations in the late 2010s.

In 2018, a variable aperture debuted in the Galaxy S9 series, continued with the S10 phones, and then faded out with the S20 series. It also featured in the Galaxy Note 9 and Note 10.

The feature previously toggled between f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture sizes. This is less flexible compared to modern implementations of variable apertures, like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s which adjusts in 0.01 stop increments. Should Samsung reintroduce this feature, it is expected to modernize it to meet current standards.