R emember the only notable feature of the Galaxy S9? It had the ability to change the aperture of the main camera. This was pretty significant, and it was a talking point for what

Samsung has a history of introducing innovative features in its smartphones, only to discontinue them later. However, one such feature—variable aperture—might be making a comeback with the upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Samsung is rumored to be interested in plugging "variable aperture" into the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Rumors about the aperture range remain unknown; however, Xiaomi recently did this, delivering an f/1.63 to f/4.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could gain a camera hardware feature seen on older Galaxy devices and rival flagships.

Nevertheless, it would be one way to upgrade the 200-megapixel main camera found on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. And given recent Ultra models in the Galaxy S-series have larger sensors than a lot of older Galaxy phones, greater aperture control could be more noticeable.

Variable aperture is rumored to make an first appearance on a Samsung Galaxy phone later this year, for the first time since 2019.

According to tipster PandaFlash, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could feature even thinner bezels than its current-gen counterpart. The bezels of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra were already visibly reduced from the Galaxy S24 Ultra, allowing the newer phone to attain a display size of 6.9 inches without a noticeable change to its overall dimensions.

It was first introduced by Samsung with the S9 series in 2018. Samsung was the first smartphone brand to introduce variable aperture cameras with

Discover the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: cutting-edge camera, silicon-carbon battery, and Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 processor. Is it worth the hype?

According to a reliable Samsung tipster, IceUniverse on Weibo, Samsung may bring back the variable aperture in its camera in its upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra flagship smartphone. This was last seen in the Galaxy S9 and S10 series.