Galaxy S26 Ultra could have one less camera, bigger battery

It’s only been a couple of months since Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 series, and leaks regarding the Galaxy S26 series have already started popping up. The rumor mill has begun leaking their alleged features, especially for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Last week, a report claimed that this model will recover the variable aperture camera functionality. Now, a source claims that Samsung could ship the Galaxy S26 Ultra with one less camera sensor and a bigger battery.

Only three main cameras, but with variable aperture

According to @Vhsss_God on X/Twitter, Samsung will fit the Galaxy S26 Ultra with only three rear cameras. The last Galaxy S Ultra device with three cameras was the S20 Ultra, the first of its kind. The South Korean tech giant may already be testing a prototype with this configuration. This prototype features a 200-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 200-megapixel 4x optical zoom camera.

This means that next year’s Galaxy S Ultra could be ditching one zoom lens. However, the company is allegedly bringing back the variable aperture feature, which it first introduced with the Galaxy S9 series. The brand offered this functionality on some of the follow-up models before ditching it from the Galaxy S20 series.

The variable aperture feature allows a phone to switch between different focal lengths. The Galaxy S9 series can switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4, for instance. You can read more about this in our earlier post.

Galaxy S26 Ultra could have a bigger battery

Furthermore, the new rumor also suggests that Samsung is exploring stacked battery technology for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This could allow the company to cross the 5,000mAh battery threshold of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The firm has reportedly achieved a stacked 5,500 mAh cell capacity in a prototype model.

It’s worth mentioning that an earlier report suggested that the Galaxy S26 Ultra could end up offering a behemoth 7,000 mAh battery. The company has been reportedly testing with silicon-carbon batteries, potentially allowing the entire Galaxy S26 series to offer cells with much higher capacities than the S25 series.

Samsung reportedly bringing back Bluetooth functionality for the S Pen

The report also claims that the S Pen of the Galaxy S26 Ultra prototype has built-in Bluetooth functionality. The company disappointed some loyalist fans after removing it from the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s S Pen. The new rumor is a bit surprising since analysts don’t expect Samsung to bring back this feature so soon.

However, it won’t be that surprising if Samsung indeed brings back this feature. Notably, in January, thousands of fans signed a petition urging Samsung to reinstate Bluetooth functionality on next year’s flagship model. At the time of publication, the petition has racked up 8,722 verified signatures.

Samsung has quite a lot of time to explore the features to be implemented in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Since the phone isn’t launching anytime before a year, we advise our readers to take the rumors regarding the new series with a pinch of salt.

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