Is the Galaxy S26 Ultra a true leap forward, or is Samsung just polishing the same old gem with minor tweaks and marketing hype to convince you to buy its new flagship without any meaningful changes?
I’m giving you an honest, hype-free review of the S26 Ultra, so you can decide for yourself whether it’s worth $1,299.
Design & Build
You can get the Galaxy S26 Ultra in six colors: Cobalt Violet, Pink Gold, Sky Blue, Silver Shadow, Black, and White. But before you buy, the Pink Gold and Silver Shadow colors are only available through Samsung’s website.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra shows a design that’s reached maturity. It’s perhaps not revolutionary, but certainly refined and dignified. The flat, boxy design remains similar to the previous model but with subtle tweaks. With Gorilla Glass Armor 2 covering both the front and back and an aluminum frame, Samsung clearly hasn’t skimped on materials.
The big change? The corners of the S26 Ultra are rounded, much like the S25 Ultra, but the camera island is back! We’re looking at an oval-shaped island for the three main lenses, similar to the Z Fold 7. Apparently, the new stabilizer’s too beefy to fit in a slim body without it.
Speaking of slim, it’s 0.3mm thinner and 4g lighter. It sounds tiny, but you’ll feel it. Best of all? No more ‘stabbing’ your palms! Those sharp, rectangular corners are gone. If you’re like me and support your phone with your pinky while scrolling TikTok or X, your hands’ll thank you.
One disappointment: Still no 3D Face ID. Samsung, it’s 2026! Using 2D face unlock in the dark is still a nightmare.
Display
The Galaxy S26 Ultra screen stays at 6.9 inches with razor-thin, uniform bezels. With that Quad HD+ resolution (3120 x 1440) and 120Hz refresh rate make everything looks incredibly sharp and smooth.
But one thing that improves every generation and keeps me loyal to Samsung is the anti-reflective screen coating. It started with the S24 Ultra and was perfected on the S25 Ultra, and now it’s even better in the S26 Ultra.
Under direct sunlight or in a room full of bright lamps, instead of seeing your own reflection, you see the content with excellent contrast and deep blacks. This also helps battery life, as you don’t need to max out the brightness just to see the screen.
Privacy Display
Now, let’s get to the real showstopper. With the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display, Samsung has integrated specialized hardware into the screen for the first time, allowing you to narrow the viewing angle with a single tap.
When this mode’s active, anyone looking at your phone from the side won’t see anything but a dark or blurry screen, while you see the image perfectly clear from the front. You can even set it to turn on automatically when you’re typing a password or opening specific apps.
Battery and Charging: Still Living in the Past?
To be honest, I expected Samsung to finally switch to high-density silicon-carbon batteries to keep up with its Chinese rivals. But no, that didn’t happen. The S26 Ultra has a 5000mAh Li-Ion battery. By pairing this capacity with the new, power-efficient chips, you get about 30 hours of video playback, which is definitely enough to get you through a day of heavy use without breaking a sweat.
Charging speed is where Samsung should be embarrassed. It’s 2026! Mid-range Chinese phones are shipping with 100W or 120W chargers that full-charge in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Samsung is sticking with 60W and charges 75% in 30 minutes. If you won’t drastically increase battery capacity, at least give us faster charging!
The previous model took over an hour to reach 100%. While the 60W charging will slightly reduce this wait time, it still can’t compete with the 30-minute full charges seen elsewhere.
And hey, my prediction was spot on because Samsung skipped Qi2 wireless tech yet again on their new flagship. It’s actually kind of funny that they’ll sell you a magnetic wireless charger, but the phone itself? It won’t actually stick to it! If you really want that satisfying MagSafe-style “click” when you charge, you’re going to have to slap a magnetic case on it first.
Camera
Samsung’s really gone all out with the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera and they’ve basically redefined what Nightography means. The star of the show is that 200MP main sensor which now comes with an f/1.4 aperture. That makes it 47% brighter than before. To be honest, this number is incredible for night photography, pulling details out of the darkness that simply weren’t possible to capture previously.
Zoom & Video
The camera setup here is a complete package with two 50MP sensors and one 10MP sensor for zooming. Samsung claims that their adaptive pixel sensor gives you optical quality at 2x and 10x zoom. The actual 3x and 5x optical zooms are as sharp and great as ever too. But let’s be real for a second because that 100x digital zoom is mostly just for bragging rights on a brochure rather than everyday use, even if it’s pretty fun for checking out really distant objects.
When it comes to video, you’ve got 8K recording at 30fps. The cool part is how the phone’s processor identifies and wipes out noise patterns for each sensor individually. The result is night videos that don’t look like watercolor paintings like most phones do, so you actually get to keep those real textures. Just a heads-up: 8K files are massive, so I hope you opted for the higher storage tiers.
Selfie Camera
On the front, you’ve got a 12MP sensor. While that megapixel count might look modest compared to the rear, don’t let it fool you, it features Dual Pixel Auto Focus. Whether you’re filming a vlog or taking a quick selfie, it locks onto your face instantly, so you won’t have to deal with that annoying hunting for focus.
Mastering the Dark with Galaxy AI
Where this phone really pulls ahead is how it handles noise. Samsung’s advanced AP (Application Processor) is doing some heavy lifting, identifying specific noise patterns for each individual sensor.
The thing that really impressed me is how the telephoto lens performs in low light. With an f/2.9 aperture, this lens now grabs 37% more light. Samsung’s used some advanced noise reduction to make sure videos stay clear and vibrant even in dim settings like cozy parties or half lit streets. Maybe the image processing feels a bit much sometimes, but the final output is so cinematic and ready to share that you won’t need to spend any time on tedious editing.
Performance
Under the hood of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, we’ve got the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset; it’s incredibly fast. Samsung says the S26 Ultra delivers 39% faster AI performance, a 24% boost in graphics, and 19% faster processing compared to the S25 Ultra. With up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage, you won’t see any lag in apps or games.
OS & AI
The Galaxy S26 Ultra runs on One UI 8.5 based on Android 16. The UI has changed so much that it might feel a bit weird at first. The Quick Settings panel is completely redesigned, looking a lot like the Control Center on iPhone or Xiaomi. But the best part? The crazy level of customization. Now you can move buttons around, resize them, and even flip the volume and brightness sliders between vertical and horizontal.
Now, which AI features actually helped me and which ones were just marketing hype?
I’m absolutely in love with Circle to Search, it’s brilliant. I use it multiple times a day. Whether it’s spotting a pair of shoes an actor is wearing and finding the exact model, or translating text inside an image just by circling it, it’s super practical and honestly addictive.
To be real, I haven’t used the text and voice summary features much, but the few times I did, they were awesome. Getting a summary of a one-hour meeting is a total lifesaver. Plus, the accuracy is getting better and better with every update.
What’s in the Box?
No need to read this part, because we all know that the S26 Ultra doesn’t have a charger. In the box, you get the phone itself, USB Type-C cable, SIM ejector tool, and that quick start guide that no one reads. Let’s just hope they don’t remove the phone from the box in a few years:)
So, How do you feel about the Galaxy S26 Ultra? From the Pink Gold color and new island camera design to the battery, let me know your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for sticking with me, you guys are the best.
