What's the practical difference between Virtual Aperture on telephoto vs. main camera?

Virtual Aperture adjusts the intensity of background blur and is most useful in portrait shots — telephoto lenses naturally produce shallower depth of field than main cameras, making additional blur control on the telephoto particularly valuable for medium and long-range portraits where background separation is already pronounced.

Is Virtual Aperture a real substitute for physical variable aperture?

Virtual Aperture is a software simulation of different apertures while Galaxy S27 may return to a physical variable aperture — physical aperture changes actual light intake and creates true depth of field variation, while Virtual Aperture works through computational post-processing. The physical version is physically more accurate; Virtual Aperture is more flexible and can be applied retroactively to any shot.

Why did Samsung originally drop physical variable aperture after S10?

Samsung had variable aperture on Galaxy S9 in 2018 and S10 in 2019 before dropping it — the aperture blades produced non-circular bokeh patterns that created visible artifacts in background highlights. Advances in computational photography may now allow Apple and potentially Samsung to mitigate these artifacts, making the feature viable again.

Does "looking into it" mean the update is confirmed?

A Samsung executive confirmed the company is looking into it after user requests — "looking into it" is non-committal language. Samsung has a strong track record of delivering software features to older flagships, but marketing considerations could lead them to maintain some S26 exclusivity to encourage upgrades.

Does the S25 Ultra have the technical capability for telephoto Virtual Aperture?

Since Virtual Aperture is entirely a software feature deliverable via update — and the S25 Ultra runs essentially equivalent processing hardware to the S26 Ultra, there is no technical barrier. The decision rests entirely on Samsung's software roadmap priorities and marketing strategy rather than hardware limitations.

Samsung may bring Virtual Aperture to the telephoto camera on the Galaxy S25 — an official confirms the study, and the S27 may bring back the physical variable aperture.

24/03/2026

Samsung Considering Bringing Galaxy S26 Virtual Aperture Feature to S25 Telephoto — Executive Confirms Review

Samsung is considering adding Virtual Aperture for the telephoto camera — currently exclusive to the Galaxy S26 series — to Galaxy S25 devices. Since it's entirely a software feature, it could arrive via a software update. A Samsung executive confirmed the company is looking into it following user requests online.

Current State: Main Camera Only on S25

Virtual Aperture already works on the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra via the Expert RAW app — but only for the main camera. Extending it to the telephoto would meaningfully improve its overall usability.

What Is Virtual Aperture?

Virtual Aperture lets you artificially simulate different aperture values, allowing you to adjust the intensity of background blur — most useful for portrait photography.

Galaxy S27: Physical Variable Aperture Making a Comeback?

Galaxy S27 could copy the iPhone 18 Pro series and bring back a physically variable aperture for the main camera — a feature Samsung had on the Galaxy S9 in 2018 and Galaxy S10 in 2019 before dropping it. Now that Apple is reportedly doing it, Samsung may reconsider.

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