{"id":516343,"date":"2026-06-24T17:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/516343\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T17:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:48:26","slug":"despite-its-flaws-one-s26-ultra-camera-feature-keeps-me-coming-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/516343\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite its flaws, one S26 Ultra camera feature keeps me coming back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"s26<\/p>\n

Megan Ellis \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

I feel like all I\u2019ve done lately is complain about the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra \u2014 from its low PWM dimming rate<\/a> to its high price tag. This might lead some to think I don\u2019t see any redeeming factors in the device.<\/p>\n

However, that\u2019s not true. Not only does the S26 Ultra have some great features, but one of them has become part of my essential smartphone photography rotation: its 5x optical zoom.<\/p>\n

How much does optical zoom matter to you when it comes to a smartphone’s camera?<\/p>\n

132 votes<\/p>\n

It doesn’t matter at all.<\/p>\n

10%<\/p>\n

I want some flexibility when it comes to optical zoom.<\/p>\n

33%<\/p>\n

It matters a lot.<\/p>\n

58%<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot I don\u2019t love about the S26 Ultra<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Aamir Siddiqui \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a great phone \u2014 but it\u2019s also a symbol of the flagship stagnation<\/a> that we\u2019ve been seeing with some brands sold in Western markets. Despite the $1,300 price tag, the device isn\u2019t really an example of hardware innovation.<\/p>\n

It still carries a 5,000mAh battery \u2014 the same capacity as the S20 Ultra launched back in 2020. Samsung does use some software tricks to make this battery go further, but a capacity upgrade is long overdue. Though the S26 Ultra did get a boost to 60W wired charging, it\u2019s still lagging behind competitors like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra<\/a>, which supports 90W PPS charging.<\/p>\n

The S26 Ultra\u2019s Privacy Display is at least something that makes the device stand out from others. At the same time, its use cases are relatively limited. Some users have also reported eye strain from the S26 Ultra screen<\/a>. Overall, though, it definitely needs refinement. I enabled the feature for specific notifications, and it keeps them so private that I can\u2019t even see them when the phone is sitting directly in front of me.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a good phone, but so is the Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a>. And the slight changes between generations make it difficult to really motivate an upgrade with its price tag. But even with all that being true, the 5x telephoto camera keeps me coming back.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help but love the S26 Ultra\u2019s optical zoom<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Stephen Radochia \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a sucker for a good smartphone camera with versatile optical zoom, and the S26 Ultra is one of the best camera phones<\/a> out there. While I use my HONOR 400 Pro as my daily driver, for certain photos, I always make sure to pull out my S26 Ultra review unit. And that\u2019s because of the optical zoom.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy S26 Ultra\u2019s 50MP telephoto lens supports 5x optical zoom. You can push this up to 10x optical-like quality, which uses a hybrid method and cropping to achieve higher zoom. I prefer true optical zoom, however, as I find that it avoids over-processing and delivers better results overall.<\/p>\n

5x optical zoom on a high resolution lens makes the S26 Ultra’s camera extremely versatile in a variety of situations.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019ve spoken about optical zoom in the past, people sometimes ask me where it really comes in handy. And while it\u2019s not a feature you\u2019d necessarily use daily, it really improves the versatility of a phone\u2019s camera.<\/p>\n

The primary way I use the S26 Ultra\u2019s optical zoom is when taking photos of animals \u2014 both my cats and wild(er) creatures. For example, whenever I visit the beach, you\u2019ll be sure to find me chatting up a seagull to see if it will stay still for a picture. Both my cats and wild birds don\u2019t like a phone being shoved in their faces, so the zoom is really useful for capturing closer images.<\/p>\n

\"zoomed1x zoom\"zoomed5x zoom<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also used the feature to zoom into specific aspects of a scene to achieve better framing. It has helped me capture silhouette pictures at sunset without encroaching on others\u2019 space. 5x zoom doesn\u2019t seem like it makes much of a difference, but it really does, which you can see in the picture below.<\/p>\n

\"zoomed1x zoom\"zoomed5x zoom<\/p>\n

Even when it comes to landscape photos, it can help you hone in on something in the distance. For example, it\u2019s easy to miss the boats in the distance in beach photos in Cape Town. But you can zoom in to see them in better detail.<\/p>\n

\"zoomed1x zoom\"zoomed5x zoom<\/p>\n

Something else I like about the S26 Ultra\u2019s camera is that you can set the resolution for your photos in the app. This means that if you would like to capture as much detail as possible when using optical zoom, you can set the resolution to 50MP. However, I have noticed that these images are less saturated than the pixel-binned<\/a> 12MP shots Samsung\u2019s camera provides by default.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also used this optical zoom for taking photos of speakers during presentations and capturing details on buildings. While the majority of photos I capture use 1x zoom, having the option to zoom in significantly on a subject makes the camera experience so much more adaptable.<\/p>\n

I hope that brands continue to push optical zoom<\/p>\n

\"OPPO<\/p>\n

Robert Triggs \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Samsung still delivers some of the best optical zoom on the market, but it hasn\u2019t pushed this feature further since ditching the 10x optical zoom lens with the launch of the S24 Ultra. The 5x lens offers a higher resolution, but I would\u2019ve liked to see this feature advance now that a few years have passed since the change.\u00a0 The Google Pixel 10 Pro<\/a> has a telephoto 48MP camera with 5x optical zoom, but there are also certain flagships that lack the feature.<\/p>\n

The standard S26 and S26 Plus<\/a>, for example, are still stuck with 10MP telephoto lenses with 3x optical zoom. Considering phones like the HONOR 600 Pro now incorporate a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom, it\u2019s time that Samsung set a new standard.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad to see smartphone makers like Xiaomi and OPPO are continuing to innovate, rather than resting on their laurels. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra includes variable optical zoom (3.2x and 4.3x) on its 200MP telephoto lens. Meanwhile, the OPPO Find X9 Ultra<\/a> includes a 50MP telephoto lens with 10x optical zoom \u2014 something I\u2019d like to see come to Samsung\u2019s next Ultra device.<\/p>\n

Despite the phone\u2019s flaws, the S26 Ultra\u2019s telephoto camera continues to charm me. However, as competitors \u2014 including Google \u2014 continue to push their own zoom capabilities further, the feature will eventually lose its advantage in the Western market. For now, though, I will continue to take sneaky shots of my cats and seagulls and appreciate how the Ultra\u2019s camera allows me to do that.<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra<\/a>\"Samsung\"AASamsung Galaxy S26 Ultra<\/a><\/p>\n

Privacy display \u2022 Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy \u2022 Power AI features<\/p>\n

Powerful flagship with top-tier cameras, AI, and privacy features.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s slimmest and lightest Ultra yet, pairing a 6.9-inch display with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy and a redesigned cooling system. It doubles down on imaging with a brighter 200MP main camera, upgraded zoom, advanced 8K video features, and Ultra-exclusive privacy and Galaxy AI tools.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Megan Ellis \/ Android Authority I feel like all I\u2019ve done lately is complain about the Samsung Galaxy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,573,3141,80],"class_list":["post-516343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-galaxy-s26","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}