Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could end up winning over camera enthusiasts after all
Samsung’s next Ultra flagship may not reinvent its camera hardware, but it will feature a series of smart software tweaks, from lens flare reduction to finer autofocus control.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Samsung’s upcoming ultra-grade flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, could get multiple meaningful camera-focused upgrades. No, I’m not talking about new hardware, but about software-based refinements aimed at improving the overall photography and videography experience the device offers.
According to renowned tipster Ice Universe (via a Weibo post), the Galaxy S26 Ultra will offer reduced lens flaring. This issue is quite prevalent in smartphone cameras, even on high-end iPhones and Galaxy S-series models. To achieve this, Samsung will deploy an “enhanced lens and coating technology.”
Samsung may finally tackle lens flare, a long-standing smartphone problem
In addition to reduced lens flare, the Galaxy S26 Ultra should also solve the issue of exaggerated yellow skin tones in pictures. This could be achieved by making tweaks to the image processing pipeline, reducing the yellow tones slightly, especially when the ISP detects human subjects in the picture.
The Galaxy S26 series (not just the Ultra variant) could benefit from additions to the Camera Assistant Good Lock app on One UI 8.5. For those catching up, the Galaxy S26 series is expected to debut with One UI 8.5, a major operating system update that’s already being tested with a couple of Galaxy S-series and Galaxy Tab models.
A report by Android Authority states that the new Camera Assistant app (on One UI 8.5 beta) offers a “Video Softening” feature that could result in more natural, smoother videos that don’t look over-sharpened. This could be very useful, particularly for users who record many videos in extremely bright or harsh environments.
While the video softening feature should be available as a toggle, alongside new settings for setting the sensitivity and speed of autofocus. While the former determines how quickly the camera shifts focus when a new subject enters/exits the frame, the latter controls how fast the camera refocuses during the transition.
Given that the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the rest of the series are said to come with the same camera array as the outgoing models, these changes are an encouraging sign for buyers.
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If you miss small phones, the iPhone Fold might scratch that itch
Rumors peg the closed display around 5.4 inches, making it smaller than current iPhones when shut.
The small foldable iPhone rumor feels a lot more real with a rough 3D printed mockup based on recent leaks, made by Mac Rumors. The iPhone Fold is still expected in September 2026, but holding a physical model is a reminder that this would be Apple’s biggest iPhone shape change since 2007.
The hook for small phone fans is the cover screen. The outside display is rumored around 5.3 to 5.5 inches, with one mockup using 5.49 inches. That puts the folded phone in the same neighborhood as the iPhone 13 mini, even if the hardware is doing something very different.
Your portraits could look more natural if this S26 Ultra leak is right
The tipster also says Samsung improved skin tones that skew yellow.
A Galaxy S26 Ultra camera leak is making a very specific pitch: people photos that look more like the person in front of you, not a warmer, yellow-leaning version. The claim comes from a post by tipster Ice Universe, and it suggests Samsung is tweaking both its color tuning and the camera’s optics.
The same leak says Samsung has cut lens flare with an updated lens and revised coating. That’s not the kind of change you brag about in a keynote, but it can decide whether a portrait looks crisp or slightly hazy when a bright window, streetlight, or neon sign sneaks into frame. Samsung hasn’t confirmed any of this though.
The Exynos 2600 could deliver faster on-device AI performance on the Galaxy S26 series
Samsung has partnered with Nota AI to enhance the chip’s on-device AI capabilities.
Samsung’s latest flagship chipset, the Exynos 2600, promises significant performance and efficiency improvements, backed by a new 10-core CPU and the Xclipse 960 GPU. It also includes a new NPU to enhance AI performance, which will reportedly benefit from optimizations made in partnership with Nota AI.
According to ETNews, Samsung joined hands with Nota AI, a South Korean company specializing in AI model optimization, to enhance the Exynos 2600’s on-device AI capabilities. Using Nota AI’s Netspresso platform, which can reduce the size of AI models by up to 90% without sacrificing accuracy, Samsung plans to run large-scale generative AI models directly on Exynos 2600 devices without an active internet connection.
