Samsung Rolls Out Galaxy S26 Camera Update to Unlocked Units in the US

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Samsung has finally started rolling out its latest camera-focused update for unlocked Galaxy S26 units in the US. After first reaching carrier variants and select international markets, the new firmware is now landing on factory-unlocked Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra stateside. The devices remain on the April 2026 security level.

Unlocked Galaxy S26 units receive Samsung’s new camera update in the US

While Samsung’s official changelog only mentions device stability and reliability improvements, the company previously confirmed camera optimizations. More specifically, this update patches issues related to image processing and the new 24MP shooting mode. Close-up shots, in particular, occasionally shifted after capture, causing a mismatch between the preview and the actual image.

Samsung first released the update in South Korea and gradually expanded the rollout to parts of Europe. It recently arrived in the US as well, but only for carrier-locked Galaxy S26 units. Now, unlocked devices are finally getting the same treatment. The update arrives with the firmware build version AZDE and an OTA file size of 748MB for the Ultra model.

The camera patch also arrives during Samsung’s larger One UI 8.5 expansion. The Galaxy S26 series launched with One UI 8.5 pre-installed earlier this year, while older Galaxy devices are only now beginning to receive the update. Samsung officially started the stable rollout for older devices on May 6, with a global expansion planned on May 11.

If you own an unlocked Galaxy S26 series device in the United States, you can check for the update manually by heading to: Settings > Software update > Download and install. As always, rollout availability may vary depending on region and serial batch, so some users could receive it slightly later than others. Samsung may soon follow up with the May update for the S26 lineup, so stay tuned.

Written by

Sumit Adhikari

Sumit, a life-long Samsung user, is passionate about technology and has been professionally writing on tech since 2017. He’s a mathematics graduate by education and enjoys teaching basic mathematics tricks to school kids in his spare time. Sumit believes in artificial intelligence and dreams of a fully open, intelligent and connected world.

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