Skip to main content

Having Galaxy S24 Ultra camera issues? A fix may be coming soon

The back of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, resting against a post.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

It looks like Samsung is finally heeding the concerns about camera woes from Galaxy S24 Ultra users and will patch things up with a software update. According to a reliable leak, a software update will take stock of the “telephoto image quality, inaccurate white balance ,and abnormal red color” issues that are currently being reported by users on public forums.

“Too much optimization on 50 MP and 200 MP sensors even when everything is set to minimum,” says one Galaxy S24 Ultra buyer. “I feel like photos taken are always very washed-out and grainy,” notes another owner. “50mp and 200mp is simply useless because of the Intelligent optimization. It’s downgrading the pics,” reads a complaint on the official Samsung community forum.

Recommended Videos

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will improve many camera problems in the next "camera firmware update", Including telephoto image quality, inaccurate white balance and abnormal red color.but they have not given an accurate timetable.
I hope they can solve it in April

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) April 7, 2024

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Another aggrieved customer simply called it “horrendous.” “The colors shift. There’s a loss in details and the shutter speed is low that some of the pictures turn out blurry,” says the post on Samsung’s forum. Some mention that the white balance is off, which produces photos that are unnaturally warm, with a yellow tint and overtly strong subject exposure.

Complaint regarding Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera.
Reddit / Digital Trends

We also came across a post describing how the camera disregards the user settings and seems to operate on its own. When trying to capture a photo, irrespective of whether the automatic image optimization feature is enabled or not, the phone consistently behaves as if night mode is active and thus activates heavy post-processing that alters the image unexpectedly.

There are also posts that detail how, upon zooming into the photos, it becomes evident that they exhibit washed-out colors, lots of noticeable noise, and blurriness, regardless of whether they were taken under natural light or at night. And there seems to be some odd behavior going on with videos as well.

Forum post about bad camera on Samsung Galaxy S24.
Samsung Community Forum / Digital Trends

In a user-contributed video shared on the Samsung Community forum (EU), the Galaxy S24 Ultra also imparts an odd jelly effect to the clips. And it doesn’t seem to be an isolated case, as another user with a budget-tier Galaxy A33 phone also recounted a similar issue.

Interestingly, we spotted similar complaints dating all the way back to the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Samsung has yet to officially confirm any corrective update plans, but this story will be updated as soon as we come across any official announcements. With a camera update reportedly in the works, though, it sounds like at least some of these issues are top of mind for the company.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
New video teases the Samsung Galaxy S25’s big AI upgrades
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's screen.

Samsung has hinted at an AI-powered phone for ages now, and we always expected the Galaxy S25 series to focus largely on Galaxy AI. It turns out there may be a lot more to this than expected: a new video from Samsung teases a "true AI companion" and displays the AI performing tasks well outside the scope of Bixby.

In the video, a woman tells the AI, "Hey, I'm off to my next meeting, but I need to find an Italian restaurant. Outdoor seating, pet friendly, of course. Can you send that to Luca? Oh, and can you put that in my calendar?" That's a complex series of requests, spoken with a natural, meandering cadence, and the AI appears to take it all in without missing a beat. Her request for a restaurant also implies the AI knows her preferences well enough to suggest a location she would like.

Read more
The Galaxy S25 Ultra may get an unfortunate S Pen downgrade
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in Titanium Gray with S Pen on back.

Earlier today, a massive leak revealed all of the technical specifications for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 series. That news is wild enough on its own, but another leak suggests the beloved S Pen might also receive a particularly unwelcome downgrade: the loss of Bluetooth. If that's true, it means users won't be able to use gesture control with the pen.

The news comes from Ishan Agarwal on X. The tipster says he doubts it will improve the battery life by more than a few minutes and implies it's most likely a cost-cutting measure. The full impact of removing Bluetooth from the stylus isn't clear, but unless Samsung has built an alternative into the device, any features that rely on Bluetooth will be unavailable.

Read more
A major Samsung Galaxy S25 leak bares all, and there’s plenty of bad news
All four colors of the Samsung Galaxy S24 laying face-down on a table.

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series will officially pop up on stage later this month. It does not offer much to feel excited about, it seems. The folks over at Android Headlines have shared alleged specs sheets of the upcoming Samsung phones alongside market-ready product renders of all three trims.

Starting with the Galaxy S25 and its Plus variant, the only notable change is the new silicon. They will arrive toting Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, but the rest of the internal hardware is a no-excitement zone. As far as the design goes, abandon all hope.

Read more