A camera mode designed to save coral reefs is now on your Galaxy S25 Ultra. That’s the most unexpectedly cool sentence I’ve written all week.
Samsung has rolled out Ocean Mode to the Galaxy S25 Ultra through the latest Expert RAW app update, version 5.0.08.2, arriving as part of the One UI 8.5 beta, as reported by SamMobile.
This was originally a tool built for scientists, not consumers. Samsung built it for oceanographers, locked it away, then surprised us by dropping it on the S26 Ultra, and now it’s trickling down to last year’s flagship, i.e., S25 Ultra. And I absolutely respect the move.
What does this feature actually do?
Ocean Mode uses algorithms to correct the color distortion and visual warping that happens the moment you point a camera at anything underwater. Anyone who’s ever tried to take a photo at the beach or in a pool knows exactly what problem this solves. Underwater, everything looks washed out, blurry, and weirdly green. Ocean Mode is designed to fix that automatically.
It also includes an interval shooting option that captures continuous shots at two, five, or ten-second intervals, which honestly sounds perfect when you are out for snorkeling trips or underwater action shots.
But here’s where I have to pump the brakes a little, because I’d feel bad not saying this. Ocean Mode doesn’t improve the water resistance of your phone.
Samsung’s Galaxy phones carry an IP68 rating, but that’s tested in fresh water only. Salt water and chlorinated pool water can deteriorate the watertight seals and reduce water resistance over time. Ocean Mode is a camera algorithm and a software-based update. It is designed to make the photos taken underwater look better. It does not make your phone more resistant. Those are two very different things.
If you’re planning a snorkeling or diving trip, I highly recommend that you get a proper watertight case to protect your phone from any unwanted water damage.
Another piece of great news is that the same Expert RAW update also brings the Virtual Reflector feature. This mimics studio lighting to balance out harsh shadows when taking regular photos. That’s a bonus I wasn’t expecting, and honestly, I might be personally using this more often than Ocean Mode.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra might be next in line to get this, too, given how the camera hardware is nearly identical between both devices.
Summer is just around the corner, and Samsung knows it. Your S25 Ultra just became a lot more interesting and capable at underwater photography.
