Samsung has been known for putting huge megapixel resolution in its smartphone camera sensors, but a new rumor claims that the megapixel resolution of the future Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra flagship device will take a tremendous leap forward.

According to leaker Sanju Choudhary (via Digital Trends) posted on X, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra may feature a 324 megapixel ISOCELL HR1 sensor in the primary camera. If true, this would double the 200 megapixel resolution of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, making it one of the largest megapixel resolutions.

He further claims that the phone will feature a 3x telephoto camera with a 50MP sensor. Samsung's current flagship phones have a 10MP 3x telephoto camera and a second 50MP periscope telephoto lens, but this lens is rumored to be eliminated in the S25 Ultra.

Choudhary told Digital Trends, “So far production has not started. However, according to sources, development is almost complete.” He added that the Korean company's ISOCELL division is also working on a larger 432MP camera sensor.

In a bit of leaker-on-leaker blowback, Jukanlosreve, a fairly accurate tipster, replied to Choudhary, “Unfortunately, that is not true.”

In the exchange, they claimed that the S26 Ultra will have the same features as the Galaxy S25 Ultra; the S25 Ultra will likely keep the same 200MP ultra-wide sensor as the S24 Ultra.

This is quite powerful, and with rising costs, it is not surprising that Samsung would try to extract a few more years out of the 200MP sensor. Furthermore, Samsung is rumored to be trying to get more resolution and quality photos from the software side rather than the hardware.

A 324-megapixel main camera would be overkill, but it does not necessarily mean that Samsung will leap to the top of the best smartphones.

This year's Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of our picks for best camera phone, but in head-to-head competition with rivals from Apple and Google (both with 48-megapixel main cameras), Samsung's device, at 200 megapixels Samsung devices tend to come up just short, even with 200 megapixels.

In our 200 photo vs. series, the S24 Ultra lost to both the new iPhone 16 Pro Max and last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. Similarly, when compared to the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Google's latest model outperformed Samsung's flagship. When compared to last year's Pixel 8 Pro, the match ended in a draw.

To be clear, Samsung is producing a formidable smartphone in its Ultra line of devices that camera enthusiasts will greatly enjoy.

But big numbers are not everything.