Galaxy S26 Ultra leak reveals camera and design upgrades, but not the one you asked for
TL;DR A new Galaxy S26 Ultra leak suggests that Samsung could be upgrading the 3x telephoto camera to a 12MP sensor.
Samsung is also said to retain the 5,000mAh battery, but offer faster charging and a slimmer design at under 8mm thickness.
Samsung isn't expected to upgrade the 200MP primary sensor, nor is it adding in more battery capacity.
Samsung is currently focused on getting the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 to market, with their launch scheduled for this week, but the company is also working on its other future flagships. We've spotted leaks for the Galaxy S26 series already, even though the phones are only expected to launch early next year. While the camera leaks so far are a bit disappointing, new information has surfaced that suggests some healthy upgrades are finally coming our way!
Leaker Ice Universe shared on Weibo that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is slated to get a 200MP primary camera and a 50MP 5x telephoto camera, but the 3x telephoto camera will finally be upgraded from 10MP to 12MP. Samsung has stuck with the 10MP 3x telephoto sensor for five generations so far, so this would be a welcome upgrade, especially for portrait shots.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra's battery is said to remain at 5,000mAh, but we could finally see faster charging. However, how fast charging will get on the upcoming Ultra flagship remains to be seen. The leaker also mentions that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will most likely get a thinner body.
Ice Universe further goes on to share that the thickness of the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be reduced to 7.xmm, down from the Galaxy S25 Ultra's 8.2mm thickness.
The leaker also shares that the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro Max is 8.76mm thick, indicating that Samsung could pull ahead in the race to make a thinner and lighter flagship smartphone.
These leaks are to be read alongside previous leaks, which suggested that Samsung could be upgrading some of the battery tech on the S26 series. With the internal space it would have saved with those battery-related upgrades, it seems Samsung wants to make thinner phones, instead of adding more battery capacity. Most users should be served well enough with the Ultra's battery capacity, but the base S26 series could do more with a battery bump up instead of a thinner profile. There's no word on a Silicon-Carbon battery upgrade yet, so don't hold your breath for a best-of-both-worlds situation.
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