We're still several months out from the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, but the rumors have started rolling in revealing some of the changes we might be able to expect from the phone. According to leaker yeux1122 over on Naver, there could be some significant changes coming to the phone's hardware — including the loss of a camera lens.
The leaker claims that Samsung will be removing the secondary telephoto camera lens. The fourth lens has long offered 3x optical zoom, and a resolution far below that of the main telephoto camera. The Galaxy S26 Ultra's 3x lens offers just 12MP resolution, compared to the 50MP on its counterpart. This is never a particularly good look, when you're glancing at hardware specs.
There's more to photography than extra megapixels, but it's believed that Samsung has decided the 3x lens is now redundant. Apparently shooting at 3x magnification with the 5x lens produces better quality photos. In other words, removing the camera means Samsung can promise better photos, while reducing the effort and expense needed to manufacture the Galaxy S27 Ultra.
Considering phone components have been rising in price over the past few years, in part thanks to the explosion in demand for RAM, reducing the cost of making a Galaxy S27 Ultra could help us avoid a price hike for another year. At the very least it might help to minimize the amount of extra money we're expected to pay if the price does change.
yeux1122 also claims that the loss of the camera lens will allow Samsung to finally increase the size of the S27 Ultra's battery. It's not clear whether this is because the loss of a camera frees up extra internal space, or if it's all down to money. I'd bet on it being a money decision, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a little bit of both.
Considering Samsung's Ultra-tier flagships have featured 5,000 mAh batteries for over six years, since the release of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, it's about time we saw some change. After all, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to offer up to 5,200 mAh of battery capacity, while other rivals have exploited silicon carbon technology to offer thousands of extra milliamp hours of stored power.
It's unclear whether silicon carbon batteries will make an appearance in the Galaxy S27 series, but Samsung has confirmed it is exploring the use of technology.
On the topic of hardware changes I'm not sure I believe, yeux1122 also claims that the Galaxy S27 Ultra will feature a horizontal camera bar. This is supposed to allow for magnetic Qi2 wireless charging, similar to that of MagSafe and the Pixel 10's "Pixelsnap."
Samsung previously said magnetic charging wasn't possible because the internal magnet affected the display and prevented the S Pen from working. I can see how the camera hardware might get in the way of a magnetic ring, but I don't understand why Samsung would want to keep that from a secret.
As much as I'd like to see full Qi2 magnetic charging come to more Android phones, it's a shame it might come at the expense of the Galaxy's easily-identifiable design by turning it into a Pixel-looking phone with a stylus.
