Samsung S24 Ultra vs S26 Ultra Camera: Worth the Upgrade?

Released in January 2024, the Galaxy S24 Ultra still takes great photos, and with One UI 9 rolling out on October 6, 2026, it'll continue to for years to come. But is the Galaxy S26 Ultra, priced at $1,399.99 in the US since October 1, 2026, worth the upgrade?

The Galaxy S24 Ultra and S26 Ultra both feature a 200MP main camera, 10MP 3x telephoto and 50MP 5x telephoto. The S26 Ultra, however, packs brighter main and 5x lenses, a 50MP ultrawide and enhanced video functionality. Here's how the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera compares to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, lens by lens, to help determine if it's worth the upgrade, especially if you're eyeing a refurbished Galaxy S24 Ultra. If you have the model in between, see our S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra comparison.

S24 Ultra vs S26 Ultra camera specs

Two things stand out: the ultrawide is the only rear camera that has been given a new sensor and a new resolution, while on the 3x zoom Samsung has actually regressed a little by dropping from 1.12-micron pixels to 1-micron pixels, according to Digital Camera World.

Finally, while DXOMARK’s scores might imply a 13-point gap, DXOMARK has cautioned that it tested the S24 Ultra with an older protocol and thus the scores aren’t directly comparable.

Main camera: same sensor size, brighter lens

The S26 Ultra's primary camera makes use of the same 200MP 1/1.3-inch sensor size as the S24 Ultra's main shooter. Samsung claims that the S26 Ultra's f/1.4 aperture admits 47% more light than the S25 Ultra's f/1.7 aperture (the S25 Ultra has the same main camera as the S24 Ultra). That extra light also means a faster shutter speed is possible at the same ISO setting, reducing blur caused by camera shake and moving subjects. In practice this does make a noticeable difference, but mainly in low light. In good light, however, the difference is less obvious.

DXOMARK noted better low-light images, with improved colour and noise performance, from the S26 Ultra than from the S25 Ultra. Tom's Guide also liked the extra detail and improved colour accuracy from the S26 Ultra in low light. And Digital Camera World said night skies weren't as bright and muddy as they were on previous Galaxy Ultra phones. GSMArena said it could barely tell which daytime images were from the S26 Ultra and which were from the S25 Ultra, while Tom's Guide preferred the brighter, warmer images from the S26 Ultra.

One area where there isn't an improvement is shutter lag, which DXOMARK said was noticeable on the S24 Ultra. On the S26 Ultra it measured 0.5 to 1.5 seconds in dim lighting. And the closest focusing distance has got worse. Digital Camera World found that the closest focusing distance for both the main and 5x cameras was almost twice as long as on the S25 Ultra, which has the same main and 5x cameras as the S24 Ultra.

To work around these issues, focus and meter by touching and holding down on your subject and then fire a frame or two early. For moving subjects at night, try shooting in Pro mode with a faster shutter speed, around 1/250s. Our S24 Ultra camera settings guide has more starting values.

Ultrawide: the biggest hardware change

If you’re coming from an S24 Ultra, you’ll be stepping up from a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide to a 50MP f/1.9 ultrawide (same as what’s on the S25 Ultra).

DXOMARK found the S24 Ultra’s ultrawide produced good images in bright conditions, but images had lots of noise in shadowy areas and in dimly lit indoor and night-time scenes.

GSMArena also pitted the S25 Ultra’s 50MP ultrawide against the S24 Ultra’s 12MP ultrawide and found that while in good lighting the S25 Ultra’s default 12MP images were just a touch softer, in low light they were cleaner. And of course, the S25 Ultra’s 50MP images offered more detail when you zoomed in.

Tom’s Guide considered the S26 Ultra’s and S25 Ultra’s ultrawide cameras virtually identical, so expect similar results from the newer phone’s ultrawide.

That means the S26 Ultra’s ultrawide should beat out the S24 Ultra’s ultrawide in most low-light situations as well as any time you’d want to zoom into an image. Again, though, in bright lighting don’t expect much of a difference.

That said, DXOMARK did run into some missed focus with the S26 Ultra’s ultrawide in some dimmer scenes, so you’ll want to make sure autofocus is on the money before you hit the shutter button. Like the S24 Ultra’s, the S26 Ultra’s ultrawide supports autofocus, so you can use either phone’s ultrawide for close-up shots (the S26 Ultra will automatically switch to the ultrawide when you tap its flower-shaped Focus enhancer icon).

Zoom: 3x and 5x compared

In terms of zoom, both phones shoot at 3x and 5x optically (well, 2x and 10x too, at optical quality according to Samsung), with digital zoom maxing out at 100x. The hardware behind the zoom cameras differs, however.

At 3x, the S26 Ultra trades in the S24 Ultra’s 1/3.52-inch 10MP camera for a 10MP camera with a smaller 1/3.94-inch sensor. Tom’s Guide couldn’t tell the difference in the daytime, but GSMArena found the older, larger 3x camera performs a little better at night. Digital Camera World even calls the S26 Ultra’s 3x camera the camera system’s weak point. So if you’re shooting at night, use the 1x camera and crop.

At 5x, Samsung replaced the S25 Ultra’s periscope camera with a smaller prism design it calls ALoP, along with an f/2.9 lens. According to Samsung, that f/2.9 lens gathers 37% more light than the f/3.4 lens in the S25 Ultra’s 5x camera (which is also the camera you get on the S24 Ultra). In Tom’s Guide’s tests, the S26 Ultra was slightly sharper at 5x, noticeably sharper at 10x, a little sharper at 30x, and both were soft at 100x. Also, lights in the background take on a circular shape instead of the rectangular bokeh you get from a periscope camera.

It’s a shame, then, that the S26 Ultra’s closest focus distance at 5x is reported by SamMobile to be around 52cm, twice as far as the 26cm you can get with the S25 Ultra’s 5x camera. Samsung even recommends moving at least 80cm away from your subject when using the S26 Ultra’s 5x camera (versus 30cm on the S25 Ultra). So if you want to shoot close-up photos of flowers and food with your phone’s telephoto camera, stick with the S24 Ultra, or use the S26 Ultra’s 3x camera (or move at least 80cm away from your subject at 5x). The shooting distance is dependent on the lens you use. Our S26 Ultra zoom guide lists shooting distances.

Video: APV, Log, 4K120 and Horizontal Lock

Both phones record 8K at up to 30fps and 4K at up to 120fps, and both shoot Samsung Log as 10-bit HEVC. The S24 Ultra got Log with One UI 7.

Meanwhile, the S26 Ultra can also save clips in a new APV format, which retains significantly more image data for colourists and editors to work with. At 4K30, for example, Samsung quotes a bitrate of 796Mbps for APV HQ mode, versus 35Mbps for HEVC HDR. Samsung says APV can’t be back-ported to previous models via software update. If you make use of APV mode, make sure you’re recording to an external SSD with fast write speeds for longer clips.

The S26 Ultra also gains support for a Horizontal Lock mode when shooting in Super Steady video mode (although Tom’s Guide notes stabilisation is limited to QHD and 2x zoom), which keeps the horizon level in frame as you twist and turn the phone, and, according to SamMobile, won’t be making an appearance on the S24 Ultra via One UI 9. Finally, Pro Video mode gains a raft of new frame rate options (25, 48, 50 and 100fps), which should come in handy for minimising flicker when shooting in areas with 50Hz electricity.

Elsewhere, Digital Camera World believes the S26 Ultra captures cleaner and more detailed video in low light compared to previous generations, while DXOMARK awarded it a video score of 153 (albeit on a different version of its testing protocol) compared to 137 for the S24 Ultra. If you shoot video, our Samsung Log video guide covers colour grading with LUTs and exposure control on both phones.

Selfies, processing and software support

In terms of selfie cameras, the S26 Ultra and S24 Ultra are very similar. Both feature 12MP f/2.2 selfie cameras, and according to Android Central, there don’t seem to be any notable changes made to the hardware. However, according to Samsung, the S26 Ultra’s AI image processor now extends to selfies as well, resulting in selfies with more natural skin tones, especially in mixed lighting conditions.

While the hardware seems to be similar, Tom’s Guide notes that while the cameras produced a very similar framing to that of the S25 Ultra, they liked the increased sharpness and contrast seen on the S26 Ultra.

On the S26 Ultra, Samsung has swapped the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy for its newer and improved Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip. According to Digital Camera World, images captured on the S26 Ultra are still fairly punchy with heavy contrast, noise reduction and saturation. However, according to Tom’s Guide, images aren’t as oversaturated as those captured on the S25 Ultra.

Although One UI 9 brings a lot of similarities to the camera apps on both devices, there are still a few differences. For instance, while the S24 Ultra can only capture 24MP images in Expert RAW mode, you can capture 24MP images in Photo mode on the S26 Ultra (although you have to manually enable this in Camera Assistant). The S24 Ultra also has a separate Night mode as well as a Night option within Photo mode. However, on the S26 Ultra, you get a Night option within Photo mode with Off, Auto and Max options. Also worth noting, according to SamMobile, Expert RAW mode on the S24 Ultra can capture images in RAW format with up to 50MP.

Finally, while Samsung promises seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates for both devices, as the S24 Ultra was released back in January 2024, we can expect it to receive updates until around 2031. As the S26 Ultra only launched this past February 2026, we can expect Samsung to support it with updates until around 2033.

Price: new S26 Ultra or refurbished S24 Ultra

If you’re in the US, you can also consider the refurbished S24 Ultra. Android Central noted back in February 2026 that you can only get the S24 Ultra refurbished on Samsung’s website in the US. Meanwhile, the 256GB storage capacity of the S26 Ultra will set you back $1,399.99 on Samsung’s website (prices increased on October 1, 2026 from $1,299.99).

Samsung’s Certified Re-Newed S24 Ultra will come with a new battery and a one-year warranty. The starting price of $1,019.99 for the 256GB storage capacity was current as of April 2025, but that price has fallen since then, and used/refurbished prices are always fluctuating (often on a weekly basis). Make sure to check on the condition and battery health too.

So if the S24 Ultra’s cameras can handle everything you typically shoot, it’s the better value, costing hundreds less than its newer sibling. Our S24 Ultra buyer's guide lists what to check before you buy one.

Verdict: who should upgrade from the S24 Ultra

• Night photographers will get noticeably better photos thanks to the improved low-light performance, especially with the main camera. City photographers shooting at night will also notice improved image quality thanks to the brighter f/1.4 aperture main camera.
• Videographers should upgrade to the S26 Ultra for improved low-light video quality, the Horizontal Lock feature, and video recording with the APV codec (all missing on the S24 Ultra).
• Landscape, travel and interior photographers should upgrade if they make heavy use of the ultrawide camera, especially at dusk/dawn or when making heavy crops.
• Photographers of flowers, food and products shouldn’t upgrade since they can get closer with both the main and 5x cameras on the S24 Ultra.
• Those who primarily take photos of their family and on holidays should stick with the S24 Ultra since image quality with the 1x and 3x cameras in good lighting conditions isn’t that different between the two phones.
• Those shopping for their first Galaxy Ultra phone and looking to save some cash should consider picking up a used/refurbished S24 Ultra and saving a few hundred dollars since it has the same zoom range and will receive software support until 2031. Those willing to shell out extra cash for the S26 Ultra will appreciate its superior camera, especially for video and night-time photos.

But there’s no panacea phone here. Both models will hesitate to snap images in low light, the 3x camera is the weakest shooter on either and 100x zoom will produce mushy pictures. If you're weighing the phone in between too, our S25 Ultra vs S24 Ultra comparison and the Galaxy Ultra camera ranking cover every generation, and the S26 Ultra camera review goes deeper on the new phone.

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