Samsung has put serious research and engineering into the sophisticated multi-lens camera systems in the new Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus, and Galaxy S20 Ultra. Unfortunately, several annoying camera bugs, such as the inability to autofocus quickly and softness that affects selfies, have prevented these cameras from reaching their full potential.

Samsung promised an update to address some of these issues a few weeks ago, and fortunately, that fix arrived today (March 21). The company tells us it has begun rolling out patches to all three Galaxy S20 models, and we can confirm that our T-Mobile Connected S20 Plus has received the new software.

The 6.4-inch S20 and 6.7-inch S20 Plus were mostly spared from the worst of the camera bugs (that pesky slow autofocus issue), but the 6.9-inch S20 Ultra, because of its exclusive 108-megapixel primary wide-angle camera, took the brunt of the glitch The lens is designed to capture the subject. The lens struggled to capture subjects, and even a device priced at a fraction of the Ultra's astronomical $1,400 price tag exhibited a sustained flight rarely seen on a smartphone of any price.

While we cannot personally test the effectiveness of the update on the S20 Ultra at this time, initial reports from users on social media seem positive. One S20 Ultra owner captured a short screen recording of the new camera software trying to focus on the microphone and audio mixing console. The phone seems to be getting a sense of direction relatively quickly, at least much more quickly than the launch build.

This update is definitely good news for S20 Ultra buyers. They may have chosen the most expensive model because of its 108MP shooter and 4x optical zoom lens, which no other S20 has. In fact, we recently compared the camera performance of the Plus and Ultra before this update was applied and were surprised to find that the Plus actually outperformed in many key shot comparisons.

In a statement announcing the availability of the update, Samsung said it will "continue to provide ongoing software updates to improve the overall device experience" going forward. Certainly, the company deserves kudos for moving relatively quickly to address the shortcomings of these cameras - but sadly, the damage may have already been done.

The Galaxy S20 series simply isn't selling well (although to be fair, it's hard to say the global pandemic is helping that). Samsung's one ace in the hole was supposed to be a quad-lens shooter like the Ultra's crown jewel, but it spoiled that crucial first impression. Let's hope Samsung can pick up the pieces and get the S20 Ultra's camera in particular to where it needs to be with post-launch tweaks.