A Galaxy S26 Ultra camera leak is making a very specific pitch: people photos that look more like the person in front of you, not a warmer, yellow-leaning version. The claim comes from a post by tipster Ice Universe, and it suggests Samsung is tweaking both its color tuning and the camera’s optics.
The same leak says Samsung has cut lens flare with an updated lens and revised coating. That’s not the kind of change you brag about in a keynote, but it can decide whether a portrait looks crisp or slightly hazy when a bright window, streetlight, or neon sign sneaks into frame. Samsung hasn’t confirmed any of this though.
Portrait color is the giveaway
Skin tone is the fastest way to spot a phone camera’s “taste.” If the processing runs too warm, faces can look off indoors, and the effect gets louder under mixed lighting.
We’ve called out this exact look in past Galaxy testing. In a Galaxy S23 vs Galaxy S21 camera test, it’s noted that the S23 rendered a subject “a tad yellow,” which is basically the complaint this leak says Samsung is addressing.
Flare can pile on, too. Stray reflections and streaks around bright highlights can flatten contrast across a face, and we’ve seen that in recent comparisons, including the Galaxy S25 Plus vs iPhone 16 Pro camera shootout, which flagged flare in portrait situations.
Why a small optics tweak matters
If this rumor holds up, the takeaway isn’t new megapixels, it’s cleaner images. Lens coatings and processing choices can change what you get in everyday shots, even when the spec list looks familiar.
That’s timely because the broader S26 chatter has leaned incremental. The Galaxy S26 camera upgrade rumor may not match the biggest expectations, so a fix you notice on every portrait could matter more than a minor hardware bump.
What to watch before you buy
When early hands-ons arrive, skip the flattering sample galleries and look for repeatable stress shots: backlit faces, mixed indoor bulbs, and night portraits with harsh point lights (streetlights, headlights, bright signs). Those scenes expose both skin tone tuning and whether coatings really reduce haze. If Samsung has improved facial color and cut glare, it should show up quickly in those side-by-sides.
Check out the best camera phones right now if you can’t wait for these leaks to become available.