Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Will Boast a Huge Camera Island

Samsung adopted the raindrop design for the camera of the Galaxy Ultra series since the days of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. We have individual circle-islands for each sensor, in a clean island-less design. It was cool back then, but we have to agree that it is starting to get tiresome. With that in mind, it seems that Samsung is ready to deploy a new design for its Galaxy S26 Ultra. In fact, it seems that the company will follow Apple's footsteps by shipping a huge island for the cameras of its next Ultra flagship.

According to a new report from Samsung's home of Korea, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will adopt a monolithic camera island once more. This design said goodbye with the Galaxy S21 Ultra from 2021, but it's now returning. Obviously, it won't look the same as the old flagship. The reason for this change is all about being able to fit better cameras into the body of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, apparently. 

Obviously, Apple is doing a major redesign for its iPhone 17 series. This is something that will scream in the next months, and Samsung certainly does not want its Galaxy flagship looking boring and old with the same repetitive design. With that in mind, it seems that 2026 will be an interesting year when more brands will be adopting the design that has been the standard among Chinese smartphone brands.

Big camera islands have been predominant among Chinese smartphones. The Xiaomi Ultra series, Vivo X-series, and Oppo's Find series have been adopting large islands for their cameras. Even some mid-range phones have been adopting this design, just for the fancy look. However, it seems that Samsung's change is inevitable. The device is rumored to come with a new Sony 1/1.1" sensor with 200MP resolution.

The Korean report states that "due to the performance upgrade of the main camera and telephoto camera," the island needs to be larger. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is also expected to ditch the sharp square design for rounder corners.