TECH

Galaxy S26 Ultra: S Pen support but no UDC technology forthcoming on Samsung's next flagship

According to new reports, Samsung is currently prototyping the Galaxy S26 Ultra with up to 1 TB of storage and S Pen support. In more similarities with the current Galaxy S25 Ultra, next year's model will not be moving to Under-Display Camera (UDC) technology like recent Galaxy Z Fold foldables.

Samsung has been refining Under Display Camera (UDC) technology for years. For context, the company has been mass-producing UDC displays since 2021 and the Galaxy Z Fold3. While it decided against integrating UDC technology on the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, an under-display camera is expected to return for the regular Galaxy Z Fold7 later this year.

Samsung has yet to offer UDC technology across any of its other product lines, though. By contrast, Lenovo now sells the technology in laptop form via this year's Yoga Slim 9i. Likewise, ZTE has been selling candybar smartphones with UDC displays for years, most recently in the case of the Nubia Z70 Ultra (curr. $749 on Amazon).

According to PandaFlashPro, they have now received confirmation from industry sources that UDC will not be making its way to the Galaxy S series next year. As it stands, current Galaxy S26 Ultra prototypes are said to maintain a punch-hole camera, which has been a 12 MP sensor from the Galaxy S23 Ultra onwards.

The leaker adds that next year's Galaxy S Ultra will launch with the same punch hole diameter for an unchanged 12 MP camera. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is tipped to feature narrower display bezels than this year's model though, as well as 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB memory options. S Pen support is expected to return too, which should be joined by a next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.

Under-display camera for the "Ultra" model... It is highly unlikely that Samsung will introduce an under-display camera for the "Ultra" model in the next 2 to 3 years. Due to poor results, the UDC never performs better than a normal camera. If he is correct, this means that we will not see a Galaxy S Ultra with an under-display camera until 2028.

The justification is that a hidden under-display camera (UDC) is still not capable of performing as well as a normal camera, at least for now. The biggest proof of this is the front camera on the internal screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which has this technology, but has worse results than the front camera on the external screen.

In short, the Galaxy S29 Ultra could be the first in the series with a hidden camera under the screen, but this depends on the development of this technology in the coming years. On the other hand, another report says that the Galaxy S26 Ultra should have a significantly larger battery, with 5,500mAh compared to the 5,000mAh of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which maintained the same capacity as the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung may be preparing to launch the future Galaxy S26 Ultra with a front camera under the screen. The news was commented on by a well-known tipster on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

To deliver this novelty in its 2026 flagship, the South Korean manufacturer has been working on improving the technology that it itself uses in the foldable Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The Fold line, since the Galaxy Z Fold 4 version, has already used the camera under the internal screen and Samsung has managed to make small adjustments to deliver good photos. But, even so, the results leave something to be desired.

Currently, the Galaxy S26 line is in the early stages of development and sources say that one of the prototypes already has the front camera under the Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen.

Although this is still a big rumor, if it becomes reality, Samsung could surprise the public in 2026 by delivering a great front-facing experience with a full-screen experience on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

In fact, this could be the biggest design change in the next generation, since the Galaxy S25 Ultra brought rounded corners to "refine" the look this year.

Other improvements expected for the Galaxy S26 Ultra include fast charging increased to 65W, a screen with a brightness higher than 2,600 nits, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 platform and an updated periscope camera.

mundophone