Samsung considers trading in camera for larger battery on Galaxy S26 Ultra
Ever since the Galaxy S Ultra series first began, the device has had four cameras on the back. But that may be about to change. Samsung is reportedly considering omitting one. It has a good reason for doing so. The space freed up would be used for an extra-large battery.
Whether it actually gets there remains to be seen. Samsung is using the Galaxy S Ultra series to demonstrate its very best cameras. Even though with the S25 Ultra it failed to apply its very latest ISOCELL camera; the ISOCELL HP3.
And now the S26 Ultra may also have to do without a rear camera. It would be a telephoto lens. Samsung has been applying two such lenses for years; one with limited zoom and one with deeper zoom. Samsung thinks with the S26 Ultra it can get by with a single telephoto camera with up to 4x zoom.
From 10, to 5, to 4
Earlier generations had a 10x optical zoom lens. Samsung already brought that down to 5x starting with the S24 Ultra and if this rumor turns out to be true, even that will go down to a maximum of 4x. After removing Bluetooth from the S Pen, Samsung appears to be removing yet another unique feature.
It is a rumor for now, based on prototypes that Samsung is currently testing. The source thinks that all of this does result in more room for a larger battery. One of at least 5500 mAh in size and possibly even 6000 mAh if Samsung opts for a Silicon-Carbon one.
Currently, we think it is too early to take these kinds of rumors for true. The launch of the S26 Ultra is still at least six months away and anything can happen in the meantime.
