Are you as worried as I am that Samsung might be focusing a little too much on the Galaxy S25’s Pro-branded sequel and the S25 Plus-replacing Galaxy S26 Edge model and not enough on the S25 Ultra’s potentially repetitive and decidedly boring follow-up effort?
HP2 + F1.4 = ?
No, that’s not a question from some game show designed to make you feel bad for skipping one too many high school math classes. In fact, HP2 and F1.4 have nothing to do with algebra and everything to do with camera technology.
And while the Isocell HP2 sensor has been used on both the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra, Samsung’s “next big thing” purportedly aims to vastly improve its low-light photography performance with f/1.4 aperture.
Samsung’s in-house HP2 sensor is reportedly here to stay at least another year. | Image Credit — Samsung
Despite what a lower number might suggest, that would be an absolutely massive upgrade over the f/1.7 aperture of the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra‘s primary rear-facing camera, producing “less smearing, less noise, and clearer details” in several different image capturing scenarios.
This is all according to the mysterious but generally very reliable @UniverseIce over on X, who seems extremely confident about the accuracy of the newly reported inside information. Of course, nothing is really “confirmed” until, well, Samsung makes it official, but if I were a betting man, I’d probably be willing to wager a hefty sum of at least $1 on the S26 Ultra rocking a 200MP main snapper with an industry-leading aperture figure.
That’s right, there aren’t a lot of phones around capable of allowing that much light to enter their primary cam, with something like the Honor Magic 7 Pro, for instance, featuring a 50MP sensor equipped with f/1.4-2.0 variable aperture (which is not quite the same thing), and oddly enough, the Honor 20 Pro from all the way back in 2019 offering a 48MP snapper with f/1.4 aperture.
Numbers are not everything
That’s something that’s been abundantly clear in many different fields of the mobile industry for many years now, and it’s probably the main reason why you shouldn’t get too excited about the Galaxy S26 Ultra… or too disappointed with Samsung’s 2026 super-flagship yet no matter what kind of chatter you keep hearing from sources like “PhoneArt.”
Will this bad boy be one of the best camera phones in the world when it sees daylight early next year? Almost certainly. But it’s impossible to tell just how much better the S26 Ultra will be at taking photos (or anything else) compared to its predecessor based only on numbers and letters like HP2, f/1.4, or 200MP.
For the time being, we’ll assume the S26 Ultra will look a lot like the S25 Ultra, at least on the outside. | Image Credit — PhoneArena
Speaking of reductions, the S26 Ultra is widely expected to follow Samsung’s recent “thinner is better” trend by further slimming down this year’s already very stylish Galaxy S25 Ultra, possibly at the expense of the handset’s built-in S Pen slot.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian’s passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for ‘adequate’ over ‘overpriced’.
