Galaxy S27 Ultra reportedly ditches a telephoto camera for the sake of cost-cutting

Ben Schoon | Aug 3 2026 - 9:55 am PT

According to a new report, Samsung’s next-gen flagship, the Galaxy S27 Ultra, will be missing one of its telephoto camera sensors.

One of the key elements of Samsung’s “Ultra” tier phones over the years has been a pair of telephoto camera lenses on the back. The first few generations offered 3x and 10x lenses, with newer models dropping that to 3x and 5x, a pretty major downgrade.

ETNews reports that Samsung is taking that downgrade a step further, with plans to ditch the 3x telephoto shooter altogether on Galaxy S27 Ultra.

Apparently, Samsung will ship the Galaxy S27 Ultra with just three cameras, a first for the series, with the 10MP 3x zoom lens being the one to go. A 50MP 5x telephoto shooter would remain. Galaxy S27 Pro, meanwhile, would have a 12MP 3x telephoto camera in addition to the main and ultrawide lenses.

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Top comment by DiamondMaster115

Liked by 14 people

The 10MP 3x telephoto never felt like it made sense to hang onto, especially since they upgraded the main sensor to 200MP, it can outperform the dedicated 3x in some situations.

Oh, and if this means it finally frees up enough clearance on the top for more Qi2 accessories for them to finally integrate the Qi2 magnets into the back, then it's probably a well-worth sacrifice

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Galaxy S27 series cameras are said to break down as follows:

Galaxy S27: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto
Galaxy S27+: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto
Galaxy S27 Pro: 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto (3x)
Galaxy S27 Ultra: 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto (5x)

Apparently, the continued impact of RAMageddon is part of Samsung’s reasoning for removing the additional camera, a way of “[reducing] manufacturing costs.”

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S27 series in early 2027.