New CAD-based leaks show the Galaxy S27 Ultra with a genuinely different rear design, a large rectangular camera plateau replacing the individual camera rings Samsung’s used on recent Ultra phones. The comparisons to the iPhone 17 Pro’s camera island started almost immediately, though there’s more going on here than a simple copy-paste story.
Worth untangling first: there have actually been two separate camera rumors floating around. Earlier leaks, backed by a Samsung WIPO design filing, pointed to a thin horizontal bar with three evenly spaced lenses, Galaxy S10 or Pixel-style. The newest leaks show something different, a much larger plateau with two cameras stacked vertically, a third camera in a pill-shaped section, plus flash and laser autofocus hardware. Reports describe this as evidence Samsung may have tested multiple prototypes rather than settling on one design early, which would explain why the leaks keep contradicting each other.
One theory for the redesign is genuinely interesting: a circular magnetic ring reportedly visible in the leaked design suggests Samsung could finally be building Qi2 magnets directly into the phone, rather than relying on compatible cases like the current S26 generation does. Reorganizing the camera hardware toward the top of the phone could free up center space for that magnetic ring, which would make this a functional decision rather than a purely aesthetic one.
There’s also a camera count rumor attached to all this: the S27 Ultra may drop from four rear cameras to three, losing the dedicated 3x telephoto in favor of a 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, and 50MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom. Samsung hasn’t confirmed any of this.
Beyond the camera, expectations include a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Extreme chip, a battery around 5,700mAh, One UI 9.5, and a display size close to the current S26 Ultra. There’s also chatter about Samsung introducing a second Ultra-tier size, though more recent interpretation suggests that’s actually a separate S27 Pro model rather than two Ultra sizes.
None of this is locked in, and Samsung’s not expected to actually announce the S27 series until early 2027, so there’s plenty of runway left for the design to shift again before launch. If you’re drawn to the current Ultra’s individual camera rings, this might be the last generation that looks like it.
M Adnan Akram is the founder and lead writer at Phoonomo, covering mobile technology with a primary focus on Apple and the broader smartphone industry, alongside emerging developments in AI. He follows product launches, spec leaks, and industry trends closely to keep readers informed with timely updates.
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