Samsung Briefly Flirted With a Camera Button for the Galaxy S26 Series

The Galaxy S26 series might be coming in just a few weeks. At this point, there’s hardly anything new to know about design changes, since recent leaks have left little to the imagination. However, there’s something no leak has suggested so far, and chances are high that Samsung may have scrapped the idea too. Well, at least for the Galaxy S26 series.

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Samsung explored hardware camera controls for Galaxy S26, but it likely didn’t make the cut

Android Authority spotted that a former employee of one of Samsung’s supply partners claimed on LinkedIn to have worked on a “new camera button with swipe gesture functionality” intended for the Galaxy S26 lineup. The description sounds very similar to Apple’s Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 series. It lets users adjust zoom and camera settings using taps and swipe gestures on a capacitive surface with haptic feedback.

Samsung exploring such a feature wouldn’t be out of character, especially given camera buttons have started showing up on other Android flagships. So at the very least, Samsung appears to have evaluated whether this kind of hardware addition made sense for the Galaxy S series. And who knows, maybe we’ll see it with the Galaxy S27 series?

Because there’s little evidence that the camera button actually made it to the final Galaxy S26 design. Recent renders and dummy models of the Galaxy S26 phones don’t show any extra buttons on the frame. None of the reliable tipsters tracking Samsung’s plans have mentioned a camera key either. If Samsung did commission development work for such a component, it now looks like the idea may have been dropped along the way.

If you plan to buy Galaxy S26 series, our Mystery Box program registration is live. You can sign up now to score a free box containing a bunch of exciting goodies. Each box includes a case, screen protector, cleaning kit, phone stand, a 65W GaN charger, wired earbuds, and more freebies.