Apple will launch significant upgrades on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max this year, which is seen as a major external factor putting pressure on Samsung, prompting it to make more radical adjustments on the Galaxy S27 Ultra to remain competitive in the high-end flagship market. According to sources, these three upgrades respectively involve camera module configuration, battery capacity and battery life strategy, as well as body structure and wireless charging system.
In terms of cameras, Samsung is accused of planning to remove the previously criticized 3x telephoto lens. This lens is still used on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but users and industry reviews generally believe that its imaging performance is "lagging behind." The news comes from the blog yeux1122, who believes that the existing 5x periscope telephoto lens performs better in terms of image quality and framing stability, so it can play the main role in telephoto scenes and no longer needs a relatively weak 3x telephoto lens.
With the 3x telephoto removed, more space can be made inside the Galaxy S27 Ultra for improved battery configuration. Rumor has it that the new phone is expected to break the current battery capacity limit of 5000mAh, which has been a core demand of users for battery life for many years. Although the news also mentioned more advanced silicon-carbon battery technology, it is currently judged that Samsung is more likely to continue to use large-capacity lithium-ion batteries in the short term, and invest the cost saved in R&D into energy consumption optimization at the software level to achieve longer battery life.
The report pointed out that if Samsung focuses its resources on system and power consumption scheduling optimization, then the battery life performance of the Galaxy S27 Ultra is expected to be substantially improved based on the increase in battery physical capacity. This will help Samsung maintain its competitive advantage in the high-end market when facing Chinese manufacturers with similar large-capacity batteries and energy-efficient chips. For heavy users, an Ultra model with a battery capacity exceeding 5000mAh and in-depth system-level tuning may significantly alleviate past dissatisfaction with battery life.
The third upgrade is related to the body structure and wireless charging design. It is said that the Galaxy S27 Ultra will adopt a back cover design similar to a camera bar for the first time. This layout not only helps redistribute the position of the lens and internal components, but also provides more room for the introduction of Qi2 standard MagSafe-style magnetic wireless charging. If this change is implemented, the new phone will be compatible with more magnetic charging accessories that support Qi2, solving the obstacles in the ecological compatibility of accessories for current Samsung flagships.
The Qi2 standard is regarded as the universal specification for the new generation of wireless charging and magnetic accessories. The introduction of this system will make the Galaxy S27 Ultra closer to or even comparable to Apple’s MagSafe system in terms of charging experience and accessories ecology. For Android flagships that have long been criticized for "inconsistent accessory experience," this adjustment is expected to improve users' actual use experience in scenarios such as wireless charging bases and magnetic car mounts. At the same time, the camera bar design also allows Samsung to have greater flexibility in lens arrangement and heat dissipation structure.
The report also mentioned that Samsung realized that although the Galaxy Ultra series accounts for a high proportion of sales, it is also accompanied by a large number of user complaints, especially in terms of the pace of feature devolution and model differentiation. In order to bridge the experience gap between different models, Samsung is rumored to be planning to add a new model to the Galaxy S27 series, the Galaxy S27 Pro, to alleviate the functional differences between Ultra and Plus models. This new machine is believed to have only minor differences in camera configuration from the Galaxy S26 Ultra, allowing more users to get a close-to-Ultra experience at a lower cost.
However, the addition of the Galaxy S27 Pro does not mean that Samsung will weaken its investment in the Galaxy S27 Ultra. As the top flagship in the series, the Galaxy S27 Ultra will still be regarded as a technology master and a key model for Samsung to demonstrate its comprehensive strength in high-end smartphones in 2027. Against the background of Apple’s plan to bring a “next-generation upgrade” to the iPhone 18 Pro series in late 2026, Samsung must come up with more convincing products in terms of hardware stacking and experience polishing.
The current information comes from Korean blog yeux1122's revelations and related reports. The overall credibility is evaluated as "approximately 55% credibility," which means that although it is reasonable in terms of technical feasibility and time points, it still lacks sufficient multi-party evidence. The industry generally believes that if the above three changes are finally implemented, the Galaxy S27 Ultra will make targeted repairs to the shortcomings that current users are complaining about in the three dimensions of camera system, battery life and wireless charging ecosystem. In the upcoming high-end flagship competition, these changes will also directly determine whether Samsung can continue to maintain its right to speak in the confrontation with Apple and a number of Chinese manufacturers.