Samsung pledges to fix Galaxy S20 Ultra’s camera after reviewers report issues

The South Korean phonemaker has responded to issues with the camera system on the new Galaxy S20 Ultra

Samsung has responded to some issues that early reviewers have found with the camera system on the new Galaxy S20 Ultra. The company says it’s working on an update to improve the camera, though it doesn’t acknowledge any specific problem or confirm when the fixes will be available.

The Galaxy S20 features a groundbreaking, advanced camera system, Samsung says in a statement to The Verge. We are constantly working to optimize performance to deliver the best experience for consumers. As part of this ongoing effort, we are working on a future update to improve the camera experience.

Initial reviews of the Galaxy S20 Ultra have panned it for its poor autofocus performance, aggressive skin smoothening and image processing. The autofocus issue, in particular, has been a major cause of concern among reviewers as they have noticed the camera regularly failing to focus properly while taking photos or recording videos. Such camera issues taint the image of a phone whose entire highlight is its camera system.

While the Galaxy S20 and the S20+ feature a primary 12MP f/1.8 shooter with Dual Pixel PDAF, the Galaxy S20 Ultra comes with an even bigger 108MP camera sensor from Samsung itself. It lacks Dual Pixel AF though and instead only relies on Phase Detection AF. The device uses 9-to-1 pixel binning to output 12MP photos with more details. Samsung has not confirmed the autofocus issue with the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 108MP shooter.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra’s camera system is one of its main selling points, including a huge 108-megapixel sensor and a periscope telephoto lens that Samsung pitches as being usable at up to 100x zoom.