Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Some Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra owners have reported that their ultrawide camera is extremely shaky and unusable.
- Videos posted online show that this shaking results in a blurry viewfinder.
- A similar problem plagued early iPhone 14 Pro models, but this was fixed in a software update.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers one notable camera hardware upgrade this year, namely a 50MP ultrawide camera. Unfortunately, it sounds like some users have reported a major problem with this shooter.
The issue seems to occur in pretty much every camera mode, while one user also noted that they saw this problem when using third-party apps like Snapchat. So what could be the reason for this problem?
Our first thought is that this was caused by malfunctioning optical image stabilization (OIS). The iPhone 14 Pro series had a similar issue with its sensor-shift stabilization tech, albeit when using third-party apps. This issue, which was fixed via a software update, resulted in the iPhone’s main camera shaking and a grinding or rattling noise. However, the S25 Ultra’s ultrawide camera doesn’t appear to have OIS tech, suggesting that this problem could be related to the focusing hardware. It’s also possible for magnets in cases to affect a phone’s cameras, but the issue affects S25 Ultra users with TPU cases as well. Curiously, a few users said the issue only popped up after a software update.
A couple of users reported that they took their phones to an authorized repair center. Their phone cameras were replaced, and the issue was apparently diagnosed as a hardware problem. So we’d definitely encourage you to take your affected phone to an official repair center, too, as it certainly looks like a serious issue.
We’ve asked Samsung for comment on the issue and will update the article as soon as the company gets back to us.
