A Look at samsung Galaxy S27: The latest news on the next-gen phones

Time to go Pro

One of the biggest rumours of the Galaxy S26 range that came to nought was a supposed rebranding of Samsung’s entry-level flagship. At one stage, it seemed that Samsung would ditch the S26 entirely, in favour of a Galaxy S26 Pro. We knew well in advance of the eventual Samsung Unpacked event that the phone had been scrapped, but it now appears that Samsung is looking to revisit the idea, albeit with a new approach.

Evidence is now mounting that a Samsung Galaxy S27 Pro will be added as a fourth phone to the 2027 line-up. These rumours are now accompanied by a handful of specs that paint an idea of what could be in store with this new model. Amongst the specs listed is a 6.47-inch AMOLED display, which would sit nicely between the anticipated 6.3-inch size of the S27 and the 6.7-inch S27+.

Luke Baker

Initially it seemed as though the S27 Pro might serve as a more compact and affordable version of the S27 Ultra, notably doing away with the S Pen and compatibility for Samsung’s stylus in order to keep the cost down. Thanks to more recent rumours however, that framing of the S27 Pro might be in jeopardy as the phone might be subject to using the upcoming Exynos 2700 chipset in certain territories, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 in others.

This dance between Samsung’s own-brand chips and those made by Qualcomm won’t be unfamiliar to long-time Samsung fans as it’s plagued the standard Galaxy S and S+ phones for years, but it’s not something that the Ultra handsets have ever had to worry about – always siding with Qualcomm.

Even though the most recent Exynos 2600 processor did help to close the gap a fair bit, Snapdragon chips have always been more capable, so to have any type of compromise on a phone that is supposed to mimic the Ultra range feels like a moot point.

Sources: ETNews | Sam Mobile

Brace for fewer cameras but a revised telephoto approach

One of the first bits of information we had about the Galaxy S27 Ultra was that the phone would bring back variable aperture, something which was last seen on the Samsung Galaxy S10. This wasn’t entirely without reason as, just like how the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has seemingly beaten the iPhone Ultra to the punch in having a passport-sized foldable on the market, it appeared that Samsung was trying to ape the iPhone 18 Pro which is reported to have the same feature.

In the time since however, it now seems as if Samsung has abandoned the idea as a result of inflated costs for components amidst the ongoing RAM crisis, which also led to price hikes across all phones in the Galaxy S26 range. 

Luke Baker

This cost-cutting approach will also extend to the Galaxy S27 Ultra having one less camera on the back compared to its predecessor, likely doing away with the 10Mp 3x telephoto which always felt like a bit of a lame duck anyway. While we don’t yet know what Samsung plans to do with the remaining cameras on the S27 Ultra, other than maybe having a revised 200Mp main sensor, there is a clue in the Galaxy S27 Pro.

Rumour has it that the telephoto lens on the S27 Pro will be a 12Mp 3x model, so a bit better than the 3x one currently on the S26 Ultra, but not quite at the same level as the Ultra’s 50Mp 5x sensor. If getting a better telephoto lens is part of the upgrade path to make someone consider the S27 Ultra over the Pro then it makse sense for Samsung to try and update that sensor in some fashion.

Sources: ETNews (2) (3) | Digital Chat Station | Smart Pikachu | Ice Universe | Galaxy Club

Major leaps forward for both Snapdragon and Exynos

The dance between Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets is now expected whenever a new range of Samsung flagships appear, as the former typically powers the cheapest phone of the bunch (and its plus-sized sibling), while the latter is saved for the Ultra phone (unless you live in the US, where Snapdragon exists in all three handsets). Even though that dance is set to continue in the S27 range, it now seems there will be some serious upgrades in both types of chips.

On the Snapdragon side of things, even though Qualcomm is working on the expected Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 processor, there’s word that the company is also developing a more powerful ‘pro’ version designed for uber-flagship phones. Likely titled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, this beefier chip appears to be using vastly superior LPDDR6 RAM, alongside a larger 18MB cache for the GPU. Behind all the jargon, this should pave the way for much better sustained gaming performance, which will then trickle down into a much faster user experience across the board.

Chris Martin / Foundry

We’ve now had further leaks corroborating the idea that the S27 Ultra will be using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, which makes sense given Samsung and Qualcomm’s close relationship. Ahead of its release, it seems like the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max will be the first phone to market with that higher-end chipset in tow.

On the Exynos side of things, Samsung may be looking to bolster performance yet again by using side-by-side (SBS) architecture, which has the RAM and SoC laid out next to one another. The current Exynos 2600 uses a stacked design which isn’t ideal for heat dissipation, something that would be much better optimised by going down the SBS route.

It’s worth mentioning that the Exynos 2600 is as competent an Exynos chip as we’ve ever tested, with the overall performance putting it far more in line with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, although still a touch behind in some areas. If this attempt to optimise the thermal regulation of the Exynos 2700 is successful, it could close the gap even further for the S27 and S27+.

Overall performance could also get a boost from Samsung moving over to using UFS 5.0 storage – the brand’s new standard which promises much faster read speeds of up to 10.8Gbps alongside write speeds of up to 9.5Gbps. For context, that’s over double the current speeds of the existing UFS 4.1 storage framework.

According to Samsung, this should come with a 40% boost to power efficiency, which in everyday terms should make the S27 range far more efficient at opening apps and running complex tasks, all while minimising the effect on battery life. If Samsung doesn’t change the battery capacity on these phones then the storage upgrade might be leaned on as a means of helping users to get more out of the handsets between charges.

Sources: SamMobile (2) | Digital Chat Station

A much-needed bigger battery

One of the biggest problems plaguing Samsung is that it has left the rest of the industry run away completely when it comes to battery sizes. The Galaxy Ultra phones have held on to the same 5000mAh battery for several generations now, while the Oppo Find X9 Pro carries a massive 7500mAh alternative that can genuinely go for several days at a time.

Well, after giving up quite a bit of ground to the competition, Samsung appears ready to finally dish out the battery upgrades that we’ve been waiting for. Word has it that the Galaxy S27 Ultra will carry a much larger 5700/5800mAh battery, while the more compact Galaxy S27 Pro is set to beat the current S26 Ultra with a 5200mAh cell.

Luke Baker

While those numbers might seem small against those being touted by the likes of Oppo and Xiaomi, Samsung does have a decent track record of optimising its phones to make the most of what’s onboard, so here’s hoping that those larger cells do lead to some tangible upgrades.

Sources: Phone Futurist | Ice Universe

Magnetic Qi2 charging could be on the way (finally)

Samsung could just about get away with it given that the technology hasn’t been adopted on a wider scale in the Android space, but that simply cannot continue into 2027 as it just puts the phones at too much of a disadvantage.

As anyone who’s tried to use a MagSafe-compatible case with a recent S-series phone will know, the vertical camera bump makes it almost impossible to use certain accessories, which has no doubt played a part in why Samsung hasn’t yet adopted the feature.

According to recent rumours, however, Samsung may be looking to properly redesign that camera bump for the first time in years.

The render above is merely a speculative one, but it does give us an idea of what the S27 Ultra might look like, and the design language that could also carry across to the S27 and S27 Plus, but more than that, it falls in line with a patent from Samsung which points towards that exact approach.

Although the patent in question uses a foldable phone in its sketches, it does depict a horizontal camera bump, one that’s not too dissimilar to what you might see on the Pixel 11 range. Word has it however that Samsung plans to make this revised camera bump as flush as possible with the rest of the device, to prevent it from jutting out.

SammyGuru

Longtime Samsung fans may remember that the company last employed a horizontal camera bump, like the one pictured, on the Galaxy S10 range. It was a short-lived idea as the S20 range moved the camera to the top-left corner of the back, where it has remained, but it would make sense to bring it back as means of facilitating Samsung’s own version of MagSafe.

There is always a chance that Samsung is only investigating such a redesign to create a more distinctive look for the S27 phones, but given the popularity of MagSafe and Pixelsnap, and how expensive it’s becoming to implement chip-related upgrades due to the rising costs of storage, it would be counterintuitive for Samsung not to seize the opportunity.

Source: Naver Blogs | SammyGuru

Privacy Display for all

One of the biggest additions to the Galaxy S26 Ultra was the security-driven Privacy Display, which could block out portions of the screen to the point where they’re completely unreadable to anyone looking from over your shoulder, but to you, everything would look normal.

It’s a great bit of tech and one that’s helpful for responding to sensitive emails or when checking your banking apps on the go, but being locked to the Ultra phone meant that the feature came at a premium. Well, not anymore, it seems.

If the latest word on the street rings true then the Privacy Display could be headed to every single phone within the Galaxy S27 line-up.

Chris Martin / Foundry

This means that you’ll be able to pick up the standard Galaxy S27 and enjoy that same feature which would have once cost you a lot more to access. Given that the regular Galaxy S26 needed a few more upgrades like this to really justify its existence, Privacy Display should give the S27 just what it needs to tempt people into upgrading.

Selfies are about to get a lot better

One of the big upgrades that Apple introduced to its iPhone 17 range was a much improved selfie camera that’s capable of shooting both vertical and landscape shots without you ever having to turn the phone in your hand. It’s a great bit of tech and it seems that Samsung doesn’t want to give Apple too much of a lead here as the S27 phones might carry an all-new 16Mp front-facing camera.

At this point in time, the rumours only suggest that the upgraded selfie cam has been spotted on the S27 Ultra and the S27 Pro, but given how closely Samsung tends to follow Apple’s strategy, we would be surprised if the brand didn’t bring it down to users of the S27 and the S27+ as well.

Source: GalaxyClub

One UI could pinch a big design feature from Apple

No, that’s not a typo. Even though One UI 9 has yet to hit the scene, one user has managed to nudge their way into a very early build of One UI 9.5, showing a handful of features that could be making their way to the S27 phones at launch or in a future update.

One of the features highlighted is the ability to lock certain apps so that they can only be opened with another round of biometric scanning, or by inputting a password. This is ideal for banking apps and note-taking services – anything that you wouldn’t want to fall under the view of prying eyes.

What’s interesting is that Samsung also may be implementing its own take on Apple’s Liquid Glass. There’s a soft, see-through look to certain widgets, which likely means that Samsung has learned from Apple’s mistakes wherein users felt that Liquid Glass made it difficult to read certain app names and menus, eventually leading the brand to add a slider for the effect.