Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — Full Review
The Galaxy S26 Ultra might quietly be the best Ultra phone Samsung has released in some time. It doesn't shout about its changes, but dig a little deeper and you'll find a meaningful collection of upgrades that add up to a compelling flagship.
Design
Samsung shaved a few grams and millimeters off the build — now at 7.9mm thick and 214g — though the difference compared to last year's S25 Ultra is barely perceptible in hand. The phone feels eminently familiar but also aesthetically refined: slim, light, and powerful. The S Pen slot remains, though with the phone's corners now more rounded than ever, there's technically a right and wrong way to insert the stylus.
Display
The screen is one of the headline stories this year. Samsung's new Privacy Display has drawn widespread praise — it's a first-of-its-kind feature on a smartphone, letting you shield your screen from prying eyes without noticeably degrading the viewing experience. It looks genuinely useful and is one of the more meaningful additions in this generation.
Performance
Under the hood sits Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip for Galaxy, paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The chip's NPU is 39% more powerful than the previous generation, the CPU delivers 19% better performance, and the GPU is roughly 24% faster. In Geekbench 6, the multi-core CPU score reached 11,240 — up from 9,828 on the S25 Ultra. This is essentially as fast as Android gets right now.
Camera
The camera system doesn't bring new sensors, but Samsung improved image processing and introduced brighter apertures on the main and 5x telephoto lenses. In challenging backlit conditions, the S26 Ultra produced noticeably better exposures. Even without new hardware, Samsung managed to make an already great main camera meaningfully better.
Battery
The S26 Ultra carries the same 5,000mAh battery as its predecessor, but benefits from the new chip's improved power efficiency, resulting in a welcome boost to battery life. Charging has also been improved, finally bringing the phone closer to its rivals in this department.
AI Features
Samsung continues to push Galaxy AI forward, with an updated suite of AI tools. The improved NPU enables faster on-device processing. Some reviewers note there might be too many AI options on board, but the overall experience is polished and practical.
Price
The Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,300 / €1,450 / £1,280 for the 12GB/256GB base configuration — the same price as last year's model. Storage upgrades to 512GB and 1TB are notably pricier than before, likely due to rising memory chip costs.
Verdict
The Galaxy S26 Ultra isn't a revolutionary leap, but it's a well-rounded, confident upgrade. The Privacy Display, improved battery life, faster charging, and processing gains make it a stronger package than the S25 Ultra. If you're coming from an S23 Ultra or older, the upgrade feels substantial. If you're on an S25 Ultra, the changes are real but modest.
Bottom line: One of the best Android phones of 2026 — not because it reinvented anything, but because it quietly perfected what was already great.