Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Tech Advisor reports that the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is expected to feature a horizontal camera bar design similar to Google Pixel phones, marking a significant aesthetic shift.
- This redesign appears necessary to accommodate Qi2 wireless charging technology by preventing magnetic interference with the charging coils.
- The leaked pill-shaped camera module may house major upgrades including a new main sensor and variable aperture lens when the device launches in early 2027.
In the ultra-competitive flagship phone market, design is one of the key ways in which brands stand out from the crowd. Someone should try telling that to Samsung.
According to leaked images on Weibo (as reported by GizChina), the upcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra will feature a major redesign of the rear camera module, moving away from the vertical arrangement we’ve seen on Galaxy S phones since 2020.
Understandably, you might not want to trust a random leak on a Chinese social media platform, but industry stalwart Ice Universe is showcasing a near-identical design on their X account. Given Ice’s strong track record for Samsung news, it’d be a big surprise if this didn’t materialise.
GizChina explains the supposedly simple reason for the change: magnets. Samsung is finally expected to introduce inbuilt magnets for Qi2 wireless charging, but the current camera arrangement would interfere with the plan.
However, the specific design that it’s chosen isn’t exactly original…
Where have we seen this before?
In the leaked renders, the Galaxy S27 Ultra features a large pill-shaped camera module that extends almost entirely across the top of the back of the phone. Within it, you’ll find all three rear lenses, plus the flash.
Sound familiar? It brings Samsung in line with Google, which has featured a horizontal arrangement on its Pixel phones since 2021’s Pixel 6 series. The current pill-shaped design was introduced on the Pixel 9 series two years ago, and is a defining feature of all three of its latest non-folding flagships: the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL.
It’d be a stretch to say that Samsung is directly copying Google – plenty of other brands have opted for horizontal camera bars over the years – but it does bring the two companies much more in line.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
It’s also harking back to an earlier era of Samsung Galaxy. The Korean company introduced a very similar-looking camera arrangement on the Galaxy S10 series in 2019, before ditching it a year later.
Of course, the arrangement of the lenses is unlikely to be the only camera-related change from the Galaxy S26 Ultra. If the latest rumours are to be believed, the S27 Ultra is in line for major upgrades, with a brand-new main sensor and even a variable aperture lens both tipped.
Could it enable Samsung to close the gap on the best camera phones you can buy right now? Only time will tell, and you’ll probably be waiting a while, with the S27 Ultra unlikely to launch before early 2027.
