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Samsung has been working on the One UI 8.5 software update for its Galaxy smartphones and tablets. We’ve seen leaks of what to expect from the new update. A new leak goes into specifics on what the One UI 8.5 will bring.

A popular tipster, @taruvats33 on X, shared the full changelog of the One UI 8.5 update ahead of the beta release for the Galaxy S25 series. One of the UI changes is inspired by Apple’s Liquid Glass UI in iOS 26. The features also include a customizable Quick Settings panel.

Exclusive! 🔥 The One UI 8.5 beta changelog is here! We have seen many of the changes through leaked firmware already, and they’re al there in the changelog All details are in the images attached. Repost, Galaxy Fam! pic.twitter.com/xTAZ4gI67P — Tarun Vats (@tarunvats33) December 3, 2025

Photo Assist and conversation history.

With Photo Assist , you can generate AI images using different Photo Assist features without saving each iteration. When you’re through, you can review all your creations in your history and pick your favourites. Going over past conversations with Bixby is now easier. You just need the slide panel in the Bixby app.

Galaxy AI Features on Samsung Galaxy S25 - 1

Connectivity

You can easily access your files from your other Samsung phones, tablets, and PCs on your phone with the My Files app. The reverse is also possible, with you accessing your phone’s files on even your TV. There is also a shortcut option on your Home screen to instantly mirror your phone’s screen to a TV or other display device.

Battery and accessibility

The redesigned Battery settings let you see your battery usage clearly, with details like remaining time and charging status. The Power Saving feature has been improved with options to make your battery last longer without charging. You can choose Standard for moderate savings and customizable limits, or Maximum to turn off all non-essential features.

You can easily customise the quick panel to add, remove, reorder, and reorganise controls. You can select what part of your screen you want to capture in your screen recordings.

Quick Share

.You can prevent unwanted sharing requests by setting your Quick Share to only receive files from other devices signed in to your Samsung or Google account. Quick Share also recognises the people in the pictures you share, suggesting sharing directly with those friends.

Samsung Galaxy S26 and the 200MP camera sensor One UI 8.5 - 2

The first One UI 8.5 beta is expected to go live this month, first launching in select regions including the US, UK, Korea, and Germany. Another beta is expected to arrive before the Galaxy S26 launch and expand availability to India and Poland.

Author:Obiajulum Ndubuisi

Obiajulum is a tech enthusiast passionate about writing. When she isn’t writing about gadgets, she will probably be playing badminton, watching a movie, or surfing the internet.

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In summary, a telephoto lens in a mobile device is an advanced piece of camera technology for capturing high-quality, zoomed-in shots with professional perspective and detail.

It is a dedicated secondary or tertiary camera that allows you to zoom in on distant subjects without losing image quality, offering a feature known as optical zoom.

How Optical Zoom Works

Unlike digital zoom, which simply crops and enlarges the pixels from the main camera (making the image blurry or “grainy”), a telephoto lens uses its own set of glass elements (its own separate optics) to physically magnify the image before it hits the sensor. Because it uses its own glass, it captures real, clean image detail, resulting in a high-quality zoomed-in photo.

Zoom Factor

Telephoto lenses on phones are usually rated by their optical zoom factor relative to the main camera, such as 2x, 3x, or 5x optical zoom. For example, a 3x telephoto lens has a focal length that is three times longer than the main lens.

  • How Optical Zoom Works
  • Zoom Factor
  • Benefits of Telephoto Lens in a Smartphone
  • Types of Telephoto Lens in Mobile Phones

Benefits of Telephoto Lens in a Smartphone

Optical Zoom . This is the main advantage and function of a telephoto lens. It brings distant objects closer without a loss of quality.

Background Compression : A long focal length creates a visual effect called compression, where the distance between the subject in the foreground and the background elements (like a mountain or building) appears much shorter. This makes the background feel closer and more impactful, which is great for travel and landscape photography.

Better Portraits : The telephoto lens usually offers a more natural perspective that is flattering for faces, similar to dedicated portrait lenses on professional cameras. It avoids the subtle distortion (a slight widening/bulging effect) you can get when using the phone’s main wide-angle lens for a close-up portrait. It also naturally creates a shallower depth of field (background blur, or bokeh) to isolate the subject.

Isolation and Cropping : It allows you to look past clutter and isolate a single, specific detail in a busy scene—a flower, a street sign, or a specific face in a crowd—to create a focused, intentional composition.

Types of Telephoto Lens in Mobile Phones

There are two types of telephoto lens in mobile phones. This is primarily because of space constraints. To fit a long focal length into a thin phone body, manufacturers use clever engineering as seen in the distinction between the two types of telephoto lens.

  1. Standard Telephoto Lens

The regular or standard telephoto lens has a camera module that is only slightly thicker than the main camera but still provides a moderate zoom, albeit limited, e.g., 2x or 3x.

  1. Periscope Telephoto Lens

To achieve greater optical zoom (5x, 10x, etc), designers had to come up with a way to fit in more lenses into the small body of a mobile phone.

And so they came up with the idea of using a prism or mirror to bend the light 90 degrees, allowing the optical elements to be placed sideways inside the phone’s body instead of sticking straight out like it obtains in dedicated cameras. This allows for a much longer focal length without making the phone excessively thick.

A periscope telephoto lens is a more advanced telephoto lens for achieving greater zoom.

You can watch the video explaining telephoto lens in mobile devices on YouTube . There are other types of lenses and cameras in mobile devices, and you can explore them in our detailed article titled, Types of Smartphone Camera Lenses: Wide, Ultrawide, Depth, Bokeh, Macro, Zoom, Telephoto, Periscope, Explained in Easy Terms .

Author:Mister Mobility

Digital Skills and Communication Coach | Mobile Phone Connoisseur since 2001 | Tech Blogging since 2004