Samsung Telephoto Lenses: 3x, 5x and 10x on Every Galaxy

Not all zooms are created equal, as some are dedicated telephoto lenses and some are just crops from a larger sensor. Figuring out which is which helps you know when photos will be sharp enough to stand up to scrutiny, and when it’s better to take a few more steps forward.

A 10x camera on one Galaxy Ultra (2023) was a true telephoto; on the newest one (2026), it’s a crop.

Which Galaxy has which telephoto

All lens information is courtesy of GSMArena’s phone spec sheets, except zoom levels, which come from Samsung’s spec pages. Focal lengths are equivalent focal lengths (what focal length on a full-frame camera would produce the same angle of view), so the greater the number, the narrower the angle of view.

The periscope found on the S24 and S25 Ultra has been replaced with a 5x ALoP (All Lens on Prism) design on the S26 Ultra, which bends light using a prism, and a brighter f/2.9 aperture (versus f/3.4 on past models). Our Galaxy Ultra ranking compares the rest of each generation's camera.

3x versus 5x

The 3x camera, present in recent flagships, features a 10MP camera with f/2.4 aperture. It uses a significantly smaller sensor compared to the main camera. It’s best to use it for shooting portraits at a normal talking distance. The focal length of such a lens (67 to 72mm, depending on the model) is ideal for this use case and allows you to frame people’s faces nicely without distorting their features. You can also use this camera for shooting objects, be it dishes at a restaurant or some merchandise, as you can step back enough to not cast a shadow on the subject.

The 5x camera has a much larger 1/2.52-inch 50MP sensor than the 3x (available on S24 to S26 Ultra). It’s the camera to reach for when you want to capture fine details on buildings, someone performing on a stage or a kid on a playing field, anywhere you can’t physically get any closer. Thanks to its high resolution, you can digitally zoom in twice as much (effectively using it as a 10x camera) and still retain image quality Samsung rates as optical.

That said, you need to stand a bit further away from the subject when using this camera. Samsung suggests a minimum shooting distance of 80cm for the 5x camera on the S26 Ultra, while GSMArena’s measurements indicate that it can focus on objects as close as ~52cm. For comparison, the S25 Ultra’s 5x camera can focus on subjects as close as 30cm (according to Samsung) / 26cm (GSMArena’s measurement). Our S26 Ultra zoom guide gives standing distances for each lens.

10x on old and new Ultras

The Ultra models of the Galaxy S21, S22 and S23 use a discrete 10x periscope camera. That’s a 10MP camera with an f/4.9 lens and a focal length of 230 to 240mm, depending on the model.

On the Galaxy S24 Ultra, S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra, 10x is the centre crop of the 50MP 5x camera. In its Galaxy S24 Ultra review, GSMArena noted that 10x was at least a smidge better than on the Galaxy S23 Ultra in low light, and the gap grew the worse the lighting got.

The review also noted it as a quirk / negative that image quality was worse just short of 10x than at 10x. That’s because everything between the zoom steps is being cropped from one of the cameras, so you’re best off sticking to the zoom steps.

On a Galaxy S25 Ultra updated to One UI 9 (we checked in November 2026), we found the zoom steps to be .6, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10x.

2x and 10x are customisable in Samsung’s Camera Assistant app (Zoom shortcuts), so if you don’t see them, you can add them there.

Past 10x with Space Zoom

Zooming into 30x and above is best reserved for situations where you're trying to read a sign or work out what species of bird you're looking at. Don't expect too much fine detail, as it's going to look painted on. On every Galaxy, all of that zoom above 10x is digitally enlarging a tiny chunk of the sensor and filling in details, so bear that in mind. There's a little picture-in-picture image that pops up when you're past 10x to keep your target in frame, according to Samsung's S26 support page.

The moon shot is the one people are going to notice the most. With Scene Optimizer enabled, when shooting at 25x and above, the camera will detect the moon, stitch together more than 10 images, and apply AI processing to add detail. Our moon photography guide explains that processing, and the 100x zoom guide covers the long end.

Telephoto in low light

The 3x and 5x cameras on the S24 Ultra have relatively small sensors (1/3.52-inch and 1/2.52-inch respectively, compared to 1/1.3-inch for the main camera according to GSMArena) and don’t have especially wide apertures (f/2.4 and f/3.4, versus f/1.7 for the main camera), so they’ll need to crank up the ISO to get properly exposed shots as the light starts to fade. That’s why the phone will sometimes use the main camera and just crop in for 3x or 5x shots when it’s dark outside (Samsung says Auto lens switching picks the lens from the zoom and the light, as well as your distance to the subject).

If you want the phone to always use the actual 3x or 5x camera when you’re zoomed in (perhaps you need the slightly different perspective, or you’re shooting something far away and can’t just walk a few steps closer), you can disable Auto lens switching in Camera Assistant. Just brace yourself for noisier photos and remember to hold the phone as still as you can (or use a tripod). The slightly wider f/2.9 aperture on the S26 Ultra’s 5x telephoto should help a tad.

Getting sharp telephoto shots

1. 1

   Pick a marked zoom step

   Instead of pinching your zoom level to somewhere in between, you can select from 3x, 5x or 10x options, each offering either a dedicated telephoto shot, or a clean crop of one.

2. 2

   Make sure the phone kept your lens

   The phone will jump down to a wider camera in some cases (in certain low-light situations, or, as GSMArena noticed on the S24 Ultra, when you get closer than the lens’s minimum focus distance), but you can disable this behaviour in Camera Assistant’s Auto lens switching option. Manual lens choice is of course respected in Expert RAW and Pro mode.

3. 3

   Use a fast enough shutter

   Handheld at 5x and 10x? Use at least 1/250s. Moving subjects? Even faster. Shake gets magnified by long lenses. Switch to Pro mode to set shutter speed.

4. 4

   Lock focus on the subject

   Touch and hold to lock focus and exposure (so your camera doesn’t focus on the branch or fence in front of your subject). Our AE/AF lock guide shows the gesture.

5. 5

   Brace the phone

   For higher magnifications (10x and above), you should brace yourself against a wall/railing or use a small tripod with a 2-second timer to avoid blurring due to camera shake. When photographing moving subjects, try swiping down on the shutter button to take a burst of photos, then choose the sharpest one.

6. 6

   Check the light

   In dim conditions, it can be better to take a 1x picture and crop it later (see above), but try both and see which looks better on your phone.

Adjustments made in Pro mode can vary depending on the lens you’re using. The values listed here are meant as a starting point for Pro mode when using each telephoto lens. After taking a test shot, evaluate the results on your phone’s screen and adjust one setting at a time. Our Pro mode guide explains each control.

For shooting at long range where manual focus is needed, One UI 9’s Camera Assistant has a handy Focus peaking in Pro modes toggle to help you dial in focus precisely, drawing a helpful outline around in-focus edges as you tweak focus. The tripod guide covers small tripods that suit telephoto work.