Galaxy S27 Ultra camera leaks have been moving in several directions over the past few weeks, but a new report from Ice Universe gives us a much clearer idea of what Samsung may actually be working on.
The tipster claims Samsung has made three noticeable changes to image processing on the Galaxy S27 Ultra compared with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. At the same time, Ice Universe says the long-rumored removal of the 3x telephoto camera is now effectively settled, while the existing 5x camera is staying put. Earlier leaks had already suggested Samsung was considering dropping the 3x camera, while another report claimed the company was testing a much larger 1/1.9-inch sensor paired with 4x optical zoom.
Samsung may be leaning harder on image processing
Ice Universe says photos from the Galaxy S27 Ultra now have a noticeably warmer color tone than those from the S26 Ultra. The claim lines up with an earlier leak from WalleGalaxy, which said Samsung was moving toward warmer, more natural-looking colors and reworking its image-processing pipeline.
The newer leak adds a little more detail. Small bright objects, such as distant lights or illuminated text, reportedly retain their outlines better instead of blowing out. Ice Universe says the improvement is visible on both the main and 5x cameras. Dark areas are also said to show less fine noise, resulting in cleaner and smoother-looking night shots.
The 3x camera may be gone, but 5x looks set to stay
The tipster also claims the Galaxy S27 Ultra will drop its 3x telephoto camera entirely, leaving the rear camera system to jump directly from the 1x main camera to the 5x telephoto. The main camera is said to use Samsung’s ISOCELL HP6, described as a Galaxy-customized version of the HPC. Meanwhile, the 5x telephoto reportedly keeps the same sensor and f/2.9 aperture.
The new leak further weakens the earlier rumor of Samsung replacing the 5x camera with a 4x shooter using a much larger 1/1.9-inch sensor. While it is a bit disappointing that we might not get a bigger sensor for the telephoto with the coming generation, there is still a lot to look forward to, like a new design and a bigger battery.
