Samsung’s headline camera upgrade for the Galaxy S26 is not staying exclusive for long. A company camera executive has confirmed on the Samsung Community forum that Virtual Aperture support for telephoto lenses—one of the S26’s standout tricks—is planned for older flagships, with the rollout expected to reach the Galaxy S25 lineup via the Expert RAW app.
The same executive also indicated that Samsung’s new AI-powered document scanning is being evaluated for backporting, with the team anticipating availability up to the S25 as Neural Processing Unit (NPU) optimizations are finalized. While timing remains unspecified, the direction is clear: select S26 software talents are headed to recent Galaxy models.
What Virtual Aperture Changes For Telephoto
Virtual Aperture simulates variable depth of field, letting you control background blur intensity directly in the camera interface rather than relying solely on fixed “Portrait” presets. On telephoto lenses, this matters even more. Longer focal lengths naturally compress scenes and isolate subjects; precise blur control helps keep edges clean around hair, glasses, and fine textures—areas where smartphone portrait modes often stumble.
In practice, Virtual Aperture leverages depth maps, semantic segmentation, and multi-frame fusion to mimic how a physically adjustable iris would render bokeh transitions. By extending the feature to telephoto shooters, Samsung is tackling one of the trickiest computational photography challenges: producing realistic blur with smooth falloff while preserving detail around the subject, especially at higher magnifications.
Which Galaxy Models Are In Line for the Update
The Galaxy S25 series already supports Virtual Aperture on the main camera but lacks the S26’s telephoto implementation. According to the Samsung executive’s response—surfaced by SamMobile—the company will add telephoto Virtual Aperture to “certain older models,” specifically noting support “up to S25.” That suggests the S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra are the primary targets, with deployment arriving through the Expert RAW app rather than the stock camera alone.
Historically, Samsung has shown a willingness to bring marquee software features to recent flagships after launch. Galaxy AI tools, for example, expanded to earlier premium devices following initial debuts. Combined with the company’s long-term software support policy on modern Galaxy phones, a backport for S25 devices aligns with recent playbooks.
AI Document Scanning Also Set to Expand to S25
The executive also addressed Samsung’s upgraded document scanning, which uses on-device intelligence for edge detection, perspective correction, glare reduction, and text clarity. The camera team says it is “maximizing NPU resources” on S26 to achieve the new performance and anticipates extending the feature to S25 once optimization targets are met.
This would strengthen Samsung’s built-in workflow for receipts, contracts, and whiteboards without relying on third-party apps. It’s a logical extension of features like Scene Optimizer and on-device OCR, now bundled into a single, faster capture-and-cleanup pipeline inside the camera experience.
Why Photographers Should Care About This Update
Telephoto portraits are notoriously demanding for smartphones. Edge segmentation gets harder as magnification rises, and computational blur often reveals halos around complex subjects. Giving users granular control over simulated aperture tackles this head-on, bridging the gap between smartphone convenience and the creative latitude of interchangeable-lens cameras.
Rivals have walked similar paths—Apple allows aperture adjustments on Portrait photos in post, and Google refines blur in the Photos app—but per-lens Virtual Aperture inside a pro-oriented capture app like Expert RAW allows shooters to dial in their look at the moment of composition, then save RAW or high-quality processed files with consistent results across focal lengths.
Rollout Expectations and How S25 Owners Get It
Samsung has not provided a firm release window. Based on recent update patterns, expect a phased rollout delivered via the Galaxy Store (for Expert RAW) and, if needed, a complementary Camera or One UI component update through system settings. S25 users should keep Expert RAW updated and check the Telephoto module for a new blur or aperture control when the feature lands.
The takeaway is encouraging: even with modest hardware changes in the latest generation, meaningful camera upgrades are arriving through software. For S25 owners, telephoto Virtual Aperture and enhanced document scanning point to a more capable camera suite without buying new hardware—a win for both creators and everyday users.
