Image Quality on S24 Ultra After One UI 8 Update What's Going On Samsung ?

[ChiyaanSarath]

Hi Samsung Members community,

I hope someone from the Samsung team or fellow S24 Ultra owners can shed some light on this – I've been loving my S24 Ultra since day one, especially its camera capabilities. The 200MP sensor, AI enhancements, and overall image processing have always felt top-tier for a flagship. But after installing the One UI 8 update (based on Android 16) last week, the image quality feels like it's taken a noticeable step backward. It's frustrating, and I'm wondering if this is a widespread issue or just my device?

Here's what I'm experiencing:

Faded and Washed-Out Colors: Photos now look dull and less vibrant, even in good lighting. Skin tones and landscapes come out flat – nothing like the punchy, accurate colors I got pre-update.

Loss of Sharpness and Detail: Edges seem softer, and fine details (like textures in fabric or distant objects) are blurrier when zoomed in. It's like the processing is over-smoothing everything.

Weird Lens Transitions: Switching between lenses (e.g., 1x to 3x or 5x) causes a laggy, quality-dropping transition. Images taken right after feel low-res, almost like they're from a mid-range A-series phone rather than the Ultra.

Night Mode and Low-Light Struggles: Low-light shots have more noise and less clarity. The AI scene optimizer doesn't seem as effective anymore.

I've tried the basics: clearing camera app cache/data, restarting in safe mode, and even a factory reset (with backup, of course). No dice – the issue persists. Camera settings are all default, and I've double-checked for any "Intelligent Optimization" tweaks that might be nerfing things.

This isn't just nitpicking; the camera is a huge reason I went for the S24 Ultra over competitors. Seeing similar complaints pop up in forums (like on Reddit and other threads here about UI 7/8 updates degrading sharpness and color accuracy) makes me think it's tied to changes in Samsung's image processing pipeline – maybe over-aggressive noise reduction or altered AI algorithms in One UI 8?

Samsung Team: Could this be a bug in the update? Any plans for a quick patch to restore the pre-update quality? I'd hate to think we're being pushed toward the S25 series by software "optimizations" that feel like downgrades.

Fellow users: Has anyone else noticed this on their S24/S24+? Pre- and post-update sample shots would be super helpful to compare. Or tips on workarounds (Gcam ports? Custom settings?)?

Thanks in advance – let's get this sorted so we can keep snapping those Ultra-worthy shots!

[ThatGuyKrishan]

Yepp! S24 owner here, this seems to be case.

[praveenrajn]

Its worldwide i think. But definitely on india wide. Its happens because s26ultra is launching its 2year back model on 2026. S25ultra also camera dropped. Now only high perfomance camera is s26ultra is launching 🤣🫴 otherwise who buy those phones. Its the scam sung strategy. Am saying this years here not me peoples. Your battery, camera, heating issue everything they will give you by updates to show their newer models and well refined than old. If your friend compare your phone and newer model which will show better obliviously newer. If the phone have older camera quality the newer model and old model has no much more difference thats the point

[pavkk]

Am also feeling faded colour no sharpness at all and I have s23 fe which is looking better than s24 ultra

[Praveen_78]

I'm also facing these issues. Even the optical zoom cameras are feeling like digital zoom with lack of details
Especially at night, the image quality is very less with lot of noise
The selfies are also having a lot of noise in dark colour regions even in plenty of light

[Gopalkrishnarajwade]

same issu on 25 ultra after update one ui 8

[KāśØuĺ_şlâyër]

Same issue, now after 8.0 update, 200mp is just gimmick. Just like oil painting 😂 or pic taken from budget phone. Worst update ever for s24 ultra. Camera capabilities has been reduced and screen looks dull. I think i bought the worst flagship from samsung.

[himanshu06]

Yes, a fellow s24 owner here. Just updated to one ui 8 yesterday and the difference seems to be very drastic. The image seems to be taken from a 10 to 12k mobile phone.

[Members_28clDHt]

I'm facing all above issues in my Samsung S24 5g phone. after installing the One UI 8 update (based on Android 16), the image quality worst. Photos now look dull and less vibrant, even in good lighting. Skin tones and landscapes come out flat, accurate colors I got pre-update. Loss of Sharpness and Detail: Edges seem softer, and are blurrier when zoomed in.

Weird Lens Transitions: Switching between lenses   causes a laggy, quality-dropping transition. Images taken right after feeling low-res, almost like they're from a mid-range A-series phone rather than the Galaxy S series.
@TeamSamsung Could this be a bug in the update? Any plans for a quick patch to restore the pre-update quality? I'd hate to think we're being pushed toward the S25 series by software "optimizations" that feel like downgrades.

[hshreyas]

I too have the same issue this has to be solved , samsung is a great company but by this update that really messed upp