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Introduction and Specifications
It’s time to welcome one of the most important smartphone releases of 2026 – the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the latest iteration in Samsung’s flagship lineup.
Apart from a nominal chipset upgrade, this year Samsung seems to be leaning mostly on new software features rather than major hardware changes.
The company seems unperturbed by the progress of its Chinese competitors, and its product strategy ignores any market pressure to introduce radical innovations. And that may be for a good reason – Galaxy S Ultra sales have been steady in major markets over the past few years, so why would they invest more money in it than necessary? Sharing the US flagship space with only Apple certainly has its advantages for the business, and they are making the most of it.
But where does this leave us as consumers? Well, at first glance, it looks like we’re going to be served mostly the same dishes for the next year. It all feels a bit weak, coming from the flagship smartphone series that everyone looks at.
For those of you keeping track, the Galaxy S26 Ultra actually offers more meaningful improvements over the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but just barely.
Samsung hasn’t made any significant changes to the dimensions, but perhaps because of its more rounded edges, the phone feels different as soon as you pick it up and is a little easier to operate.
The introduction of the Privacy Display this year surprised everyone and highlighted the company’s leadership in display technology.
For another year, the S26 Ultra is powered by a higher-clocked “for Galaxy” version of Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon chip – the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
You also get small updates in the camera department, like new processing, and brighter apertures on the main and 5x telephoto cameras – two changes that should result in improved low-light performance.
As always, Samsung is also at the forefront of mobile AI features, updating its Galaxy AI again, presumably aiming to offset the minor hardware update with a richer software experience.
Finally, the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers fast charging with the new Super Fast Charging 3.0 standard rated at up to 60W. Wireless charging has also been upgraded and now supports up to 25W.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra specs at a glance:
- Body: 163.6×78.1×7.9 mm, 214 g; Glass front (Corning Gorilla Armor 2), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP68 dustproof and water resistant (submersible up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes), Stylus, Armored Aluminum 2 frame.
- Display: 6.90″ Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak), 1440x3120px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 500ppi; DX anti-reflective coating, Privacy Display.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-1-AD Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm): Octa-core (2×4.74 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L + 6×3.62 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M); Adreno 840.
- Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.x
- OS/Software: Android 16, up to 7 major Android upgrades, One UI 8.5.
- rear camera: wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.4, 23mm, 1/1.3″, 0.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 67mm, 1/3.94″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.9, 111mm, 1/2.52″, 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom; ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/1.9, 120˚, 1/2.5″, 0.7µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Super Steady Video.
- Front Camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.2″, 1.12µm, Dual Pixel PDAF.
- video capture: rear camera: 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 10-bit HDR, HDR10+, Stereo Sound Rec., Gyro-EIS; front camera:4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; 60W wired, PD3.0, 75% in 30 minutes, 25W wireless (Qi2.2), 4.5W reverse wireless.
- Connectivity: 5G; é SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0; NFC.
- various: Fingerprint reader (under the display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers; Samsung DX, Samsung Wireless DX (Desktop Experience Support), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.
On the other hand, the 3x camera now uses a smaller sensor, and the 5x camera now has a much longer minimum focus distance due to the move from a periscope lens to a regular lens.
Battery capacity hasn’t changed in years, and phones still don’t have the magnets needed for Qi2 charging.
Ingress protection is still rated at IP68, while Chinese competitors are already offering IP69 and IP69K.
And the phone still uses an 8-bit panel with FRC, and there’s no high-frequency PWM dimming – two persistent omissions that, given Samsung’s display expertise, are quite inexplicable.
All these details may seem a bit overwhelming, but they highlight a broader point – despite the S Ultra being positioned as its ultimate smartphone, Samsung doesn’t seem particularly keen on pushing major advancements with this device. This inevitably creates a gap between fans’ expectations and reality. Only the market can decide whether this will become an issue or not. In the meantime, let’s see how the S26 Ultra performs in our tests and see if it can hide some cards up its sleeve that can change this semi-negative feeling.
Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes in a modest retail package, which only includes a quick start guide and a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging and data transfer.
If you want the fastest charging speeds, you’ll need a Power Delivery charger that’s rated at a minimum of 60W with support for the PPS profile. Samsung will happily sell you a charger at a reasonable price, but you can also get a third-party charger.