Galaxy S27 Ultra Camera Leaks Contradict Each Other: Is Samsung Adding a Lens or Removing One?

With the Galaxy S26 Ultra now settled into the market, leak attention has shifted to Samsung's early-2027 successor — and the camera reporting so far genuinely disagrees with itself in a way worth untangling rather than glossing over.

What's Settled: Four Models, New Codenames

The least contested part of the story: Samsung is reportedly planning four Galaxy S27 models — S27, S27+, S27 Pro, and S27 Ultra — internally codenamed NM1 through NM4, where "NM" stands for "New Miracle" or "Next Miracle," a step up from the S26 generation's "M" (Miracle) codenames. WinFuture, GSMArena, and SamMobile have all independently reported the same codename scheme, giving this detail unusually strong cross-source agreement for something this early. A launch window of Q1 2027 also shows up consistently, in line with Samsung's typical January launch cadence for the S-series.

The Real Disagreement: Is a Zoom Lens Being Cut, or Added?

Here's where sourcing genuinely splits. One set of reports — cross-referenced across multiple outlets citing separate sources — claims Samsung is dropping the Ultra's dedicated 3x telephoto entirely, leaving the phone with a single 50MP 5x optical zoom lens instead of the two-telephoto setup Samsung has used since the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The stated motivation isn't a technical limitation but cost: reducing camera modules lowers the bill of materials at a time when rising memory and component prices are already pushing smartphone costs up industry-wide, a dynamic we've covered in the context of the iPhone 18 Pro's own rumoured price increases.

A separate, more recent leak from tipster Anthony (posting as @TheGalox_ on X) describes the opposite direction entirely: a four-camera rear system retaining both a 5x telephoto and a second telephoto lens, alongside a 200MP main sensor and a 5,700mAh silicon-carbon battery — a genuinely bigger, not smaller, camera system. These two leak threads cannot both be describing the same final device as currently reported. Given how early this is in the Galaxy S27's leak cycle — the phone isn't expected until January 2027, a full five months from now — treat both as competing possibilities rather than either being settled, and expect the picture to sharpen considerably as launch approaches.

The Main Sensor Story Has Its Own Twist

Earlier 2026 reporting suggested the S27 Ultra might adopt Sony's newly-launched 200MP LYT-901 sensor. That specific claim has since been walked back: leaker Ice Universe reported that Samsung currently has no plans to adopt Sony's new sensor for its next flagship, despite Sony formally launching the LYT-901 in the interim. A separate report instead points to an in-house Samsung ISOCELL sensor, internally dubbed "HPA," with a larger 1/1.12-inch sensor format and LOFIC (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor) technology for improved dynamic range — a genuinely different component story than the Sony-sensor rumour that circulated earlier in the year.

Other Reported Changes

Beyond the contested telephoto count, several other details show up consistently across sources: a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro for Galaxy chip, up to 16GB of RAM (though one report suggests the phone might miss out on newer LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage generations), a 6.9-inch QHD+ Privacy Display carrying over from the S26 Ultra, and a possible move away from Samsung's floating camera-ring design toward a more unified camera module.

Samsung has not confirmed any Galaxy S27 detail in this article. The camera configuration in particular remains genuinely disputed between sourcing threads — we've presented both rather than picking one, and will update once reporting converges or Samsung confirms details closer to launch.