The first images of the Galaxy S26 Ultra have leaked, and it's given us the chance to more closely inspect the camera hardware that might be inside Samsung's next flagship phone. At first glance, the S26 Ultra appears to have a similar camera module layout to the S25 Ultra. But looks more closely and the bottom lens in the main stack of three seems to have a slightly different shape. Where that lens on the S25 Ultra has the signature square opening of a periscope lens, on the new phone the rectangle has changed to a circle. It may be nothing significant, as periscope telephoto lenses don't have to have a square opening, but it's also possible this might be a hint at a completely new telephoto lens design.
Read more: What is a periscope lens?
Back in late 2024, Samsung revealed what it called an ALoP - All Lenses on Prism - zoom lens. With a conventional periscope lens, light enters through the back of the phone and is immediately redirected through 90 degrees by a prism. The light then passes sideways within the phone, through the lens elements and into the image sensor. With the optical stack and sensor placed at right-angles to a conventionally-mounted phone camera module, there's more room within the width of the phone to space out the lens elements for a longer telephoto focal length.
But, according to Samsung, arranging lens elements in this way restricts the diameter of each element, as well as the size of the image sensor. To enlarge either of these means increasing the overall thickness of the phone, and that would be at odds with Samsung's aim of slimming down its new phones.
An ALoP lens retains the basic periscope lens principle of angling incoming light via a prism to an image sensor placed at right-angles to the main body of the phone. But the lens elements are repositioned so they're ahead of the prism, back in their conventional location on the same plane as the phone's back panel. By positioning the lens elements in this orientation, lens diameter (and therefore the lens aperture) can be increased without affecting the thickness of the phone. Another benefit is the space occupied within the phone body by this new telephoto module is also reduced, freeing up room for other phone components.
Despite Samsung revealing this technology over a year ago, we've yet to see a phone actually incorporate it. Could the S26 Ultra be the first?
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