This is the season for leaks, and Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 series is the hottest commodity in town. It is hardly a surprise, therefore, that we are hearing something new about the upcoming lineup almost every day, with the latest leaks focusing on Exynos 2600's camera-related capabilities and Samsung's apparent underutilization of those abilities in the S26 series.
Exynos 2600 can support either a single 320MP camera or up to three 108MP cameras at the same time
A tipster who goes by the username @SPYGO19726 on X has just posted some impressive specs for Samsung's in-house chipset, Exynos 2600. According to the tipster, Samsung has redesigned its entire imaging stack, "bringing console-class GPU rendering, AI-driven image synthesis, and pro-grade RAW control under one unified ISP-NPU pipeline."
The Exynos 2600's ISP leverages Samsung's 2nm GAA process, and features a multi-core image processor that is capable of handling up to 320 megapixels from a single sensor or 108 megapixels from up to three sensors at the same time.
It can also process feeds from up to four sensors concurrently. This means that the Exynos 2600's ISP can process "wide, ultra-wide, telephoto, and depth feeds at the same time, with zero-shutter-lag HDR stacking and real-time depth-aware tone mapping."
Also, the ISP reportedly supports up to seven concurrent MIPI inputs, allowing for modular camera systems or even foldables with internal + external sensor arrays.
Additionally, the chip's HDR engine can combine up to five frames simultaneously and process 14-bit RAW images, allowing for more detailed, color-accurate images in low-light conditions.
As for the Exynos 2600's video recording ability, it can support 8K video recording with HDR10+ support at 60 frames per second, or 4K video recording at 120fps.
Finally, the chip has an internal bandwidth of 1.8TB/s, and can support AI features like scene segmentation, super-res zoom, and per-object tone curve.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra reportedly features the same camera stack as that found on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, apart from the 3x telephoto lens, which gets a minor bump
Meanwhile, it looks like Samsung will not utilize the Exynos 2600's camera-related abilities to the fullest, as per the latest leak, which shows the Galaxy S26 Ultra adopting nearly the same camera stack as that found on the S25 Ultra, apart from the 3x telephoto lens, which is apparently getting a resolution upgrade from 10MP to 12MP.
This means that the apex S26 variant will likely get:
- A single 200MP ISOCELL HP2 main camera
- A 50MP ISOCELL JN3 or Sony IMX564 ultrawide camera
- A 50MP IMX854 5x periscope camera
- A 12MP IMX874 selfie camera
- A 12MP ISOCELL 3LD S5K3LD 3x telephoto (S25 Ultra had a 10MP 3x telephoto Sony IMX754 lens)
Do note that the tipster Ice Universe is on record for declaring that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra's 200MP main camera and 5x periscope shooter would have wider apertures.
Additionally, the Camera Assistant app on the Samsung Galaxy S26 series will unlock the following features:
- A 24MP resolution for the default camera and portrait mode.
- Adaptive pixels, which eliminate noise by combing several low-resolution pics to create a high-res image.
- A dedicated focus speed slider for videos and pictures.
- The option to turn off HDR10+ and use regular HDR.
Of course, Samsung's apparent underutilization of the Exynos 2600's image processing abilities might have something to do with its dual chip strategy. As we reported recently, Qualcomm is now claiming that its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chips will power around 75 percent of the S26 lineup's units, with the Exynos apparently 2600 relegated to the residual.
Critically, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 does not support 8K video recording at 60fps. So, in order to maintain feature parity, Samsung will likely forego this capability, among others.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra will feature a novel charging solution
Finally, do note that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra might get a relatively novel charging solution, with the phone charging at 55W for the first 15 percent of the charging cycle, and then downshifting to 45W for the 15-70 percent charging cycle.
This would be an improvement over the current 45W charging system, which is barely able to reach 45W during the first 20 percent, then downshifts to 34W until the charge reaches 35 percent or so, and then performs another downshift thereafter.
Note: The post has been updated with additional details on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra's camera setup on November 06, 08:14 ET.
Update:
The tipster Ice Universe has disputed the report of the telephoto lens upgrade, declaring that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will feature a 1/3.94-inch, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto lens, which is smaller than the the 1/3.52-inch, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto lens on the S25 Ultra.
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