Galaxy S26 Ultra teardown shows Samsung’s clever new telephoto camera up close

The Samsung Galaxy S26 series went on open sale only yesterday, so it was only a matter of time before JerryRigEverything’s Zack Nelson took it apart to see what’s inside. In his latest teardown, Nelson opens up Samsung’s newest flagship and gives us a detailed look at the hardware, highlighting several interesting changes the company has made under the hood.

Unlike his usual durability tests, this video focuses on opening up the Galaxy S26 Ultra and examining its internal hardware.

One of the biggest changes Nelson highlights is the redesigned telephoto camera inside the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

In the teardown, we see that both the S26 Ultra and the previous Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra use a 50MP 5x telephoto camera with optical stabilization. However, the S26 Ultra’s camera lets in significantly more light.

Samsung improved the aperture from f/3.4 to f/2.9, which, Nelson says, lets in roughly 37% more light. At the same time, the camera module itself is 22% shorter, something you can see in the video, allowing Samsung to fit the improved optics into a slimmer space.

The change is made possible by a new design Samsung calls ALOP (All Lenses On Prism). In previous periscope designs, the prism sat in front of the lens stack, partially blocking incoming light. In the S26 Ultra, the lenses are positioned directly on the prism instead, and Nelson’s video gives us a good look at the new design.

This rearrangement allows more light to reach the sensor, and Nelson notes that this should directly benefit Samsung’s new Nightography features on the S26 Ultra.

The teardown also shows that Samsung has increased the S26 Ultra’s vapor chamber cooling system by about 15%, and while it now occupies a noticeable portion of the phone’s interior, it should ideally improve the phone’s thermal performance.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra also seems to be quite repair-friendly. The back panel comes off easily with heat, and the battery is also pretty straightforward to remove.

Another small but interesting detail is inside the speaker modules. Nelson points out that Samsung includes tiny internal balls inside the speaker housing designed to reduce the tinny sound often produced by small smartphone speakers.

Lastly, it was super satisfying to see the S Pen housing from the inside. Samsung has securely isolated the S Pen’s parking spot from the rest of the phone’s internals. Nelson notes that this should prevent liquid from entering the phone’s main body through that opening.

The teardown also shows that last year’s S Pen is slightly thinner, meaning the stylus from the S25 Ultra does not properly fit the new S26 Ultra slot.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra features Samsung’s new Privacy Display, and while Nelson didn’t go into detail, he speculates that the anti-glare coating on the Galaxy S25 Ultra may have interfered with the S26 Ultra’s new privacy screen, which could explain why Samsung downgraded it this year.

While that explanation hasn’t been officially confirmed by Samsung, it’s one possible reason for the change.