It has been suggested that Samsung Electronics may significantly alter the rear design of its upcoming 'Galaxy S27 Ultra' to be unveiled next year. Instead of the vertical camera arrangement that has become a symbol of the Galaxy, there are observations that it could adopt a large horizontal 'camera island' spanning the top of the back panel.
According to IT industry sources on the 24th, well-known IT tipster Ice Universe recently posted an image believed to depict the rear camera design of the Galaxy S27 Ultra on his X (formerly Twitter) account, stating, "I can't say anything."
In the released image, the most striking feature is a large rectangular camera island occupying most of the upper rear section. On the left, two large cameras are arranged vertically, while another camera and flash are positioned on the right. Unlike previous Galaxy S series models that placed camera lenses along the vertical axis, this design spans the entire top portion of the back panel.
Ice Universe later directly mentioned the Galaxy S27 Ultra in additional posts. He stated that he is "too late to change the design of the Galaxy S27 Ultra" and warned that Samsung Electronics' MX (Mobile Experience) Business Division Design Team Leader (Executive Vice President) Lee Il-hwan should "prepare for the harshest criticism in Galaxy history."
If this design is applied to the actual product, it would mark a significant shift from Samsung Electronics' long-standing design direction for the Galaxy S series. Since the Galaxy S23 series, Samsung Electronics has adopted the 'droplet camera' design, where each camera lens protrudes independently. In particular, by arranging cameras along the vertical axis, the company has maintained the distinctive design identity unique to Galaxy.
Recently, horizontal camera designs have been gaining traction in the smartphone market. Google has applied a horizontal camera bar to its Pixel series, and Apple also significantly widened the camera area across the top left and right of the iPhone 17 Pro series.
Signs that Samsung Electronics is considering a horizontal camera module were also detected earlier. Foreign IT media SamMobile recently reported that smartphone blueprints featuring a camera module spanning the top of the rear panel were found in Samsung Electronics' patent application documents.
However, since this image is not an official rendering released by Samsung Electronics, it is too early to conclude that it represents the final design of the actual Galaxy S27 Ultra. If Samsung Electronics ultimately adopts a horizontal camera island, significant changes are expected to the Galaxy's design identity built around vertical arrangements.
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