Some of the photos I took on my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra dropped in quality as soon as I started editing them, especially when I cropped them.
None of the resolution options in the camera app gave me the detail I needed at a file size that’s reasonable to keep on my phone.
The solution is somewhere in between, and I found it in a 24MP mode that Samsung doesn’t include in the camera app by default.
It only appears after you turn it on through Camera Assistant, which is a separate Samsung app that unlocks hidden camera settings.
Why 12MP was not enough for me
The default mode is convenient but limited
The S26 Ultra’s main camera uses a 200MP sensor, but it usually doesn’t offer the full experience.
By default, it shoots at 12MP through pixel binning, which merges groups of neighboring pixels into one. The result is less noise and more light.
12MP photos look clean at full size, but they also look heavily processed. After I started cropping into a section of the frame, the fine detail softened, making the shots hard to reuse.
Switching to 50MP gave me the detail I wanted, but each photo took up more storage. It’s not practical for everyday shots.
Discovering the 24MP camera mode
The middle resolution I was looking for
The 24MP mode is a middle-ground between 12MP and 50MP, and it gave me noticeably more detail without the storage cost of 50MP.
According to a Samsung Community mod, the mode uses a technique called AI Fusion to produce detail close to what 50MP captures.
The S26 series is the first Samsung lineup to offer 24MP in the standard Photo mode, and it’s one of several new Galaxy S26 camera features that improve your shots.
On earlier flagships, including the Galaxy S25 series, 24MP is only available in Expert RAW.
Expert RAW’s 24MP option is built for people who want to set ISO, shutter speed, and exposure.
The 24MP setting in the regular camera app works like any other point-and-shoot mode, so I can open the camera and take the picture.
How to turn on 24MP mode
A quick install and two toggles
Samsung does not make this mode easy to find. It needs the free Camera Assistant app from the Galaxy Store, and it now works on more Galaxy phones than it did at launch.
To turn it on:
- Open the Camera app and tap the gear icon to open its settings.
- Scroll down to Camera Assistant and tap the download icon to install it from the Galaxy Store.
- Open Camera Assistant and tap 24MP resolution.
- Turn on 24 MP in Photo mode.
- Go back to the camera app, switch to Photo mode, tap the resolution selector at the top of the screen, and pick 24M.
After that, 24MP is only one tap away in the resolution selector, like the others.
It’s not for everyday use
24MP does not fully replace 12MP
The 24MP mode struggled more than the 12MP in low light. The 12MP mode combines more data into each pixel, so its dim shots come out cleaner, with less noise and better dynamic range.
Each 24MP shot is also much slower, taking about three seconds to process. Although processing happens in the background, I noticed it when I took several photos in a row.
My bigger complaint is the Camera Assistant requirement. It’s not too hard to install one extra app, but I think Samsung should have put 24MP in the camera app by default instead of hiding it behind a separate download.
Due to these trade-offs, I still use 12MP for most everyday shots and switch to 24MP when I know I will crop or edit the photo later.
Since Camera Assistant adds 24MP to the camera app but doesn’t make it the default, it reverts to 12MP when you close the app.
To make 24MP your default, use the Keep 24MP resolution toggle on Camera Assistant. With it on, the camera stays at 24MP every time you open the app.
That toggle suits anyone who wants 24MP for every shot and doesn’t mind the slower processing and weaker low-light results.
A price for better image quality
The 24MP mode gave me photos I could crop and edit without the storage cost of 50MP, and that’s the first problem I set out to solve.
The trade-offs are slower processing, weaker low-light shots, and an extra app to install, so I keep it for photos I plan to edit instead of running it all the time.
Photographers who want manual control can still use Expert RAW on a Samsung phone and its 24MP option. For point-and-shoot photos, this hidden setting is the best balance of detail and file size the S26 Ultra offers.
8/10
- SoC
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- Display type
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Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- Display dimensions
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6.9-inch
- Display resolution
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3120 x 1440
