Almost four months have passed since the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. But speculations have already started in the technology circles about the next generation Samsung Galaxy S25 series. The lineup was rumored to feature stacked batteries for high power density. However, a later report said that the Galaxy S25 series will use artificial intelligence (AI) to conserve power instead of stacked batteries, potentially offering better battery life. And now a tipster has shared important information about the camera setup of the most powerful Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra model in the Galaxy S25 series.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra may come with fewer rear cameras with variable zoom
A tipster recently shared three new aspects of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra phone's camera system online. Samsung is reportedly testing an early prototype of their upcoming Ultra flagship. According to him, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra prototype has only three rear cameras instead of four like the previous models. There are three cameras – primary, ultra-wide and a single periscope telephoto. Samsung has dropped the so-called “weak” 3x telephoto module from the new model and is believed to be aiming to compensate with digital zoom.
The South Korean company has been experimenting with zoom cameras since its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra model. They ditched the relatively weak 10-megapixel 10x telephoto lens on the previous model and used a 50-megapixel 5x zoom sensor. Current phones actually do well with high-resolution 5x cameras and long-range zooms with their AI capabilities. So it's not impossible to apply a similar technique to a 3x range sensor now.
The main camera will reportedly retain the same sensor size and resolution. But since the sensor will capture more light, it will likely come with a larger aperture. More light entering the sensor is generally helpful for ISP, which ultimately offers better results.
On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra phone will use a larger sensor than the Galaxy S24 Ultra handset as the periscope telephoto camera, which can improve the detail of zoomed shots. But the most notable change is the addition of variable zoom, which is significant for image quality in zoomed shots. Variable zoom means using a specific mechanism, like a dedicated camera, that will produce a larger image on the sensor. And no cropping means no loss of image details in the zooming process.
Note that the Samsung S25 Ultra will offer two fixed focal lengths – the first between 4x and 5x zoom and the second between 6x and 7x zoom. This is similar to integrating two different zoom cameras in one module. This phone will also use digital zoom for values between two focal lengths as before. However, the two specific focal lengths are quite close to each other and the loss will not be very noticeable.
