• The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra could have one less camera than its predecessor
• Reportedly, the 3x telephoto is being ditched
• That would leave it with just a 5x optical zoom for telephoto shots, assuming no other changes are made

Samsung’s Galaxy Ultra phones have long been top options for telephoto photography, helped in part by their having two telephoto cameras, where most high-end phones have just one. But it sounds like the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra might be getting a bit more conventional, as it’s reportedly losing one of its telephoto lenses.

This is according to @UniverseIce — a leaker with a solid track record — who claims that the 3x telephoto will be absent on the S27 Ultra. While their wording is a bit ambiguous, it sounds like Samsung will be ditching this camera altogether, rather than switching it for a different focal length.

In which case, if the other telephoto stays the same as on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, you’ll be limited to just 5x optical zoom. However, it’s possible that Samsung will change this camera or even allow for multiple zoom levels through a single lens, removing the need for an extra camera.

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A camera that won't be massively missed

Whatever the case, though, Samsung fans don’t seem too bothered by this news, with replies to the post including “good riddance I say. Hope it's not just the Ultra that bids farewell to that awful lens”, and “finally. The 3x was always the 'meh' middle child anyway.”

Certainly, it’s not currently the most useful of the Ultra's cameras, since you can already get a 2x ‘optical quality’ shot from the 200MP main sensor. That 3x zoom camera is also currently lumbered with a 10MP sensor, while the other rear cameras are all 50MP or more.

While we’d take the claim of its removal with a pinch of salt, it does line up with recent reports that the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra will have a redesigned camera block (possibly in the style of the iPhone 17 Pro's camera block) to facilitate MagSafe-like charging, so this may well be the case.

If it is accurate, though, we certainly hope Samsung is planning some camera improvements elsewhere, because while the 3x telephoto is arguably the least useful of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s snappers, removing it with no other changes would be a definite downgrade.

We probably won’t find out for sure what Samsung’s planning until early 2027, as that’s when the Samsung Galaxy S27 series will likely launch.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.