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.