Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra camera upgrades: how to decide if the improvements are worth it for you

You probably already assumed that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra was a better camera phone than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and you’d be right. That much is unsurprising, but what you might be less sure of is how much better, and whether the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is an improvement for every shooting scenario.

So to help answer those questions, we’ve compared the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s camera capabilities to those of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, across a range of scenarios, so you can see whether the upgrades this year are worth it for your own needs.

TL;DR: whether for low light shots, long-distance zoom, selfies, or photo editing, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a clear upgrade on its predecessor.

Excelling for everyday shots

Before we get to more specific and specialist use cases, it’s worth looking at how much better the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is for everyday shots — those occasions where you just point and shoot in decent lighting conditions.

In that sort of scenario, both the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are capable of stunning results — Samsung has worked hard to refine its flagships’ cameras over the years and even last year’s model is a testament to that.

But nevertheless there are improvements to be seen from the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. It has for example an upgraded, AI-powered image signal processor (ISP), which can reduce noise, preserve natural skin tones, and enhance details.

With next-gen sensors too and the latest version of Samsung’s ProVisual Engine, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra can capture fine details, delivering images that are almost exactly as they looked in the flesh — and thanks to its AI scene recognition (powered by Galaxy AI¹) you don’t need to worry about manually tweaking settings either — the phone can optimise them automatically.

With all that said, these everyday shots where conditions aren’t challenging are something the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra already excels at, so if that’s all you’re doing — taking well-lit photos, primarily with the 200MP wide camera — you should be happy with either of these phones, though the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra still has a clear edge.

Crisp low-light shots of streets and interiors

Low-light situations can be particularly challenging for cameras, so this is one major area that we’re always hoping to see improvements in, and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra delivers them, with a series of improvements that ensure nighttime photos and videos are as clear and crisp as possible.

That includes a wider f/1.4 aperture for the 200MP wide camera, allowing for a 47% improvement in brightness² compared to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 50MP telephoto camera lets in 37% more light than the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s thanks to its f/2.9 aperture.

Combined with next-gen sensors and the aforementioned upgraded AI-powered ISP, this all allows the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to excel for low-light photos, with its enhanced Nightography mode ensuring a lack of light won’t hold you back.

That’s not to say that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra struggles in the dark — even with that you’ll be able to take pleasing photos of streets after sunset and of darkened rooms, but the upgrades on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are clear, delivering even brighter, better images in challenging conditions.

Enormously long-range zoom for capturing distant details

Samsung’s Ultra phones have long been champions for long-range zoom, and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is no exception, packing a 3x telephoto, a 5x periscope, and 10x optical-quality zoom. And if you want to zoom even further than that, there’s 100x AI-powered Space Zoom, letting you capture stunning detail at vast distances.

On paper, you’re getting the same selection of specs with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra — a phone which also excels for zoom shots, but look closer and you’ll see some clear improvements from the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, driven by things like AI-powered software enhancements and the 5x zoom camera’s wider aperture.

Those AI enhancements can improve both the capture and processing of images, delivering cleaner, more detailed results at every zoom level. So if you want to take photos of distant details on far-off buildings, or of animals that might run away if you get too close, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is an exceptional choice.

Making selfies look natural

Selfies also get a boost with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, because while both that and the Galaxy S25 Ultra have a 12MP front-facing camera, the new model uses an AI-powered ISP for the selfie snapper.

This helps among other things to preserve natural skin tones, and can aid in capturing fine detail such as individual hair strands, while keeping the brightness balanced without any overexposure.

The result is selfies that look more natural and detailed than they will with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra — or most other phones.

Video stabilisation that keeps footage steady

Recording videos can be even more challenging for phones than taking photos, as they’re not just a single static frame.

But this is another area where the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has taken major strides, as with Super Steady Horizontal Lock³, videos will be better stabilised, allowing for smooth footage that looks professional.

And with Audio Eraser⁴ you can easily remove unwanted background noise from footage, even in third-party apps like YouTube, so your videos sound as good as they look.

Now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra also offers video stabilisation, but it’s not as capable as the Super Steady Horizontal Lock feature that debuted with the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, so for videos too the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has the edge.

Photo editing tools that deliver professional results

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn’t just excel for taking photos, it’s also a top choice for photo editing, thanks to its powerful Photo Assist⁵ feature.

This uses AI to make editing effortless, whether you’re just making small tweaks or completely transforming an image. So whether you want to share shots with your friends, upload them to a digital photo frame at home, or post them professionally, they’ll look exactly as you want.

Now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra also has many of these tools, and for basic edits it can do a great job too, but the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra benefits from new and improved features, like the ability to edit images with a simple text prompt.

A top choice for professional creators

Professional creators will benefit from all of the above upgrades on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, but on top of those, there’s also APV (Advanced Professional Video) support here.

With this codec, you’ll be able to do visually lossless editing while using about 10% less storage than other formats, making it ideal for professional-grade content. This is the first Samsung Galaxy device to support APV, so you won’t find this on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Final verdict

It’s clear that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is far and away the better camera phone, and whether you’re interested in zoom shots, low light scenes, selfies, creating professional content, or editing photos, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is worth considering — even if you already have a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

If your camera needs are more minor — occasionally taking holiday snaps and the like but not much more than that, or if you don’t mind slightly worse quality in more challenging conditions, then the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra should suit you just fine. But if you want Samsung’s best camera phone, then the choice is clear.

So if you’re ready to upgrade your smartphone photography, visit the Samsung website to find out more.