Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to get big camera boost with new 24MP mode and Adaptive Pixel

While the physical hardware for the cameras on Galaxy S26 Ultra is rumored to stay mostly the same, Samsung isn’t changing anything about those cameras. There’s actually quite a few software upgrades coming. According to leaker @chunvn8888 on X, the Galaxy S26 series will get the following:

• 24MP resolution for the default Camera and Portrait modes.
• Adaptive Pixel: clear noises by combining multiple lower-resolution pics to a single hi-res picture.
• Focus speed slider for picture and video mode, and
• The option to turn off HDR10+ and use regular HDR.

These features will be part of the Samsung Camera Assistant app, which lets you really take full control of the camera on your Galaxy device.

The 24MP mode is expected to sit between the 12MP and 50MP that the Galaxy S25 already has available. While Adaptive Pixel could add more detail and better light to images by combining multiple smaller shots. This is similar to how HDR works on a lot of smartphones.

Samsung needs to do more to the Galaxy S26 camera setup

When talking about the entire Galaxy S26 lineup, it really needs some hardware updates. Especially the base and Plus models, which have the same sensors as the Galaxy S22 series. The Galaxy S26 Ultra does also need to drastically update the 3x telephoto lens, which is a tiny 12MP sensor. In fact, it’s really not needed anymore since the primary 200-megapixel sensor can crop in to about 5x as it is right now.

These rumors could change some more before the launch, seeing as the Galaxy S26 launch date is set for February 2026 right now. Which sounds like Samsung is still working on prototypes right now for these devices. Especially with the recent leaks about the Galaxy S26 Edge being canceled and being back on course for a later launch.