Key Takeaways
- Samsung released the One UI 6.1.1 update for the Galaxy S23 in the second week of September with new Galaxy AI features.
- Users soon reported a bug on the Galaxy S23 Ultra causing ghosting in pictures at zoom levels 16x-19.9x.
- Samsung has pulled the update due to this as it works on a fix.
After many delays, Samsung rolled out a major One UI 6.1.1 update for the Galaxy S24 series at the beginning of September. Shortly after, the company made an official announcement, expanding the update’s availability to older Galaxy flagships, including the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But to the horror of many owners of Samsung’s 2023 flagship, the One UI 6.1.1 firmware contained a bug, wreaking havoc with the camera’s zoom performance. Following user complaints, Samsung has pulled the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s One UI 6.1.1 update until it resolves the camera glitch.
As reported earlier this week, a bug in the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s latest One UI 6.1.1 update causes ghosting in pictures captured between zoom levels 16x and 19.9x with the “intelligent optimization” option enabled.
Thankfully, Samsung quickly acknowledged the issue, apologized for the inconvenience, and confirmed that a fix was in the works. However, until the revised firmware is ready, Samsung has decided to pull the existing One UI 6.1.1 build for the Galaxy S23 Ultra (via SamMobile). Since the bug does not affect the regular and Plus variants of the Galaxy S23, their One UI 6.1.1 update is still available for download.
Other older Galaxy devices that got the One UI 6.1.1 firmware are also unaffected, and their update remains live for download.
Change the Galaxy app camera settings as a temporary workaround
If you have already updated your Galaxy S23 Ultra to One UI 6.1.1, you can tweak the Intelligent Optimization setting temporarily to resolve the ghosting issue at 16x-19.9x zoom levels. From the Camera app settings, navigate to Intelligent optimization and select Quality optimization to Medium. This should fix the problem until Samsung rolls out a new firmware to squash the bug.
Alternatively, you can use Samsung’s Expert RAW camera app to click pictures at zoom levels higher than 15x to avoid any ghosting and blurring issues.
The latest One UI release for the Galaxy S23 series packs some big changes. It brings almost all the new AI features that debuted on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 to the Galaxy S23. This includes Sketch to Image, Portrait Studio, PDF Overlay Translation, and real-time live translation for third-party VoIP calls like WhatsApp and Skype.
