The Galaxy S27 series is not expected until early 2027, but rumors about Samsung’s next flagship phones are already piling up. One of the biggest changes could be coming to the Galaxy S27 Ultra, with Samsung reportedly dropping its long-standing 3x telephoto camera in favor of a single 5x periscope zoom lens.
According to a new report from yeux1122 on Naver, Samsung’s 5x periscope camera delivers better image quality and improved stability when capturing 3x zoom shots. If accurate, this could address one of the most common complaints about recent Galaxy Ultra models. However, it raises the question of whether Samsung is using fusion technology to capture 3x-zoom photos with a 5x periscope.
Samsung may be relying on computational photography
The report does not explain how a fixed 5x periscope camera is producing 3x zoom photos, since a lens with a fixed focal length cannot physically switch to a shorter optical zoom level. Modern smartphones increasingly combine data from multiple cameras and crop high-resolution sensors to recreate intermediate zoom levels.
If Samsung is indeed removing the 3x telephoto camera, it may use a combination of the 200MP main camera and 5x periscope camera to produce 3x zoom shots. Another possibility is that the report contains a translation error, or that Samsung’s new periscope camera offers a shorter focal length than a traditional 5x setup. For now, there is not enough information to determine exactly how the company plans to handle zoom photography on the Galaxy S27 Ultra.
Why Samsung may want to remove the 3x camera
Despite the uncertainty, there are good reasons for Samsung to move away from its current 3x telephoto camera. The biggest issue is sensor size. Even on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung’s 3x telephoto camera uses a relatively small sensor compared to some rival flagship phones.
A larger sensor can capture more light, resulting in better sharpness, lower noise, improved colors, and stronger low-light performance. These advantages are particularly important for telephoto cameras, which already face space constraints inside a smartphone.
Samsung’s 3x camera struggles in situations such as indoor photography, portraits, food shots, pet photos, and low-light scenes. Ironically, these are also some of the most common use cases for 3x zoom.
Removing the dedicated 3x telephoto camera could also free up internal space for a larger battery. According to the report, Samsung may finally move beyond the 5,000mAh battery capacity that has remained unchanged on Galaxy Ultra models for several generations. While fans have been begging the brand to move to the silicon-carbon technology that we see on the latest Chinese Android flagships, even a bigger lithium-ion cell will be a welcome change.