Samsung’s Galaxy S27 Ultra Will Have Three Cameras, Not Four, for the First Time Since 2020

août 20, 2026 admin

By OFOKI TECH | August 20, 2026

Samsung has shipped every Galaxy S Ultra with four rear cameras since the S20 Ultra launched in February 2020. The S21, S22, S23, S24, S25, and S26 Ultras all followed the same formula: a main sensor, an ultrawide, a 3x telephoto, and a longer periscope zoom. That streak ends with the S27 Ultra. According to ETNews and corroborating reports from SamMobile, Samsung will drop the 3x telephoto entirely, leaving the Ultra with three rear cameras for the first time in seven generations.

Why Samsung Is Removing a Camera

The reason is cost. ETNews reported that Samsung informed camera supply partners of the change in early August 2026, citing the need to reduce manufacturing expenses amid surging memory chip prices. The phenomenon has been dubbed RAMmageddon in the industry: contract prices for conventional DRAM climbed 90 to 95 percent quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, and an 8GB-plus-256GB smartphone memory configuration cost nearly three times as much as it did a year earlier. TrendForce warned that the spike could shrink global smartphone output by as much as 15 percent in 2026.

An electronic components industry official told ETNews: « Camera image quality has reached a point of technological saturation. Given the severe manufacturing cost pressure, this appears to be a decision driven by cost reduction. »

The specific camera being removed is the 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom sensor that has been a fixture of the Ultra line since the S21. The remaining telephoto will be a 50-megapixel 5x periscope zoom, the same specification as the current S26 Ultra’s longer zoom lens. The full rear camera array for the S27 Ultra is now expected to be: 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto (5x), and a 16MP front-facing camera with autofocus and optical image stabilization.

The Four-Model Lineup

The camera reduction is part of a broader restructuring of the S27 series. Samsung is expanding from three models to four: the Galaxy S27, S27+, S27 Pro, and S27 Ultra. The Pro is a new tier, positioned between the Plus and the Ultra. It is expected to feature a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 12MP 3x telephoto, effectively inheriting the mid-range zoom lens that the Ultra is losing.

This creates an unusual inversion. The Pro will have a dedicated 3x optical zoom. The Ultra will not. Buyers who want the longest reach will still need the Ultra, but buyers who shoot portraits or medium-distance subjects may actually get more utility from the Pro’s camera array. Android Authority noted that Samsung risks giving up on 3x lenses « just as other brands have proven the technology to finally make them truly brilliant, » citing the 200MP 3x telephotos on the OPPO Find X9 Ultra, vivo X300 Ultra, and Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

The Battery Compensates

Samsung is offsetting the camera downgrade with a significant battery upgrade. The S27 Ultra is expected to use a silicon-carbon battery with a rated capacity of 5,534mAh, which would likely be marketed as 5,700mAh or possibly 5,800mAh. That would be the first capacity increase for the Ultra line since the S20 Ultra’s 5,000mAh cell seven generations ago.

Silicon-carbon technology replaces some graphite in the lithium-ion anode with silicon, allowing more energy to be stored in the same physical space. Samsung introduced the technology on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series in July 2026. The S27 Pro is also expected to benefit, with a 5,087mAh rated cell marketed as approximately 5,200mAh.

The Chip Situation

The processor allocation is also shifting. According to SamMobile, the S27 Pro and S27 Ultra are expected to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro for Galaxy globally. The S27 and S27+, however, may revert to Exynos in most markets. A report from South Korean publication Money Today claimed the Exynos 2700, manufactured on Samsung’s second-generation 2nm process, would power the base and Plus models in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with Snapdragon reserved for North America, China, and Canada.

This would mark a partial return to the split-chip strategy Samsung abandoned for the S26 series, which used Snapdragon globally. The move suggests Samsung is confident enough in the Exynos 2700’s performance to reintroduce it, or cost pressures have made the Snapdragon premium unsustainable for the lower tiers.

What Is Confirmed

The Galaxy S27’s existence is beyond doubt. The base model, carrying the model number SM-S952U, appeared in the GSMA IMEI database in June 2026, more than a month earlier than the S26’s first database appearance. The four model numbers follow Samsung’s established pattern: SM-S952 (S27), SM-S956 (S27+), SM-S957 (S27 Pro), and SM-S958 (S27 Ultra).

Samsung has not officially announced the S27 series. The expected launch window is January or February 2027, based on historical patterns and the early certification timeline.

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