• 

  Rear camera

  f/1.4 200-megapixel wide, f/1.9 50-megapixel ultra-wide, f/2.4 10 megapixel 3x telephoto, f/3.4 50-megapixel 5x telephoto

  Charge speed

  60w Super Fast Charging 3.0

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

  Display

  6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X

  
  

• 

  Rear camera

  f/1.7 200-megapixel wide, f/1.9 50-megapixel ultra-wide, f/2.4 10 megapixel 3x telephoto, f/3.4 50-megapixel 5x telephoto

  Charge speed

  45w Super Fast Charging 2.0

  SoC

  Snapdragon 8 Elite

  Display

  6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X

  
  

At its recent Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung finally pulled back the curtain on the Galaxy S26 series, introducing the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

The S26 Ultra, of course, is the star of Samsung’s lineup and the most powerful flagship phone it has ever released. However, in a situation that echoes last year’s S25 Ultra and the S24 Ultra, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is strikingly similar to the S25 Ultra, both in hardware and design. But there are several notable differences between the two that make this year’s S26 Ultra standout.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the key differences between the Galaxy S26 Ultra and S25 Ultra, covering specs, pricing, design, cameras, and more.

Price, specs, and availability

• 	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
  SoC	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5	Snapdragon 8 Elite
  Display	6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X	6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X
  RAM	12 or 16 GB	12 or 16GB
  Storage	256GB, 512GB, or 1TB	256GB, 512GB, 1TB
  Battery	5,000 mAh	5,000mAh
  Operating System	Android	One UI 7
  Colors	Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold	Titanium Black, Titanium Grey, Titanium Whitesilver, Titanium Silverblue
  Weight	214g	7.7oz
  Rear camera	f/1.4 200-megapixel wide, f/1.9 50-megapixel ultra-wide, f/2.4 10 megapixel 3x telephoto, f/3.4 50-megapixel 5x telephoto	f/1.7 200-megapixel wide, f/1.9 50-megapixel ultra-wide, f/2.4 10 megapixel 3x telephoto, f/3.4 50-megapixel 5x telephoto
  Charge speed	60w Super Fast Charging 3.0	45w Super Fast Charging 2.0

Looking back at the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it launched in February 2025 with a starting price of $1,300 for the 256GB model. The phone features a 6.9-inch display and is available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage, with the 1TB option featuring 16GB of RAM rather than 12GB. Color options for the S25 Ultra include Titanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Whitesilver, and Titanium Silverblue.

Fortunately, the Galaxy S26 Ultra maintains the same starting price of $1,300, with the same screen specifications and storage/RAM options as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. What’s different is the color palette, as the Galaxy S26 Ultra is available in Colbalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, and Pink Gold.

Pre-orders for the Galaxy S26 Ultra are available now, and the phone launches on March 11.

Design and build

The S26 Ultra is even more rounder

For starters, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a much more rounded look than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The S25 Ultra started this trend last year, with a more rounded design than the S24 Ultra, and Samsung has continued it, making the S26 Ultra even less boxy and more rounded.

Samsung has also made the S26 Ultra thinner and lighter this year, measuring 7.9mm thick and weighing 214g, compared with the S25 Ultra’s 8.2mm thickness and 218g weight. It’s not a huge difference on paper, but when I held it at a preview event in Toronto ahead of Unpacked, the change in shape and weight was noticeable. The S26 Ultra also still includes the S-Pen, which, like the S25 Ultra, lacks Bluetooth capabilities.

Apart from being rounder and lighter, the other noticeable design change is the new pill-shaped rear camera island, similar to what we’ve seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

Comparing the dimensions as a whole, the S26 Ultra measures 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm, while the S25 Ultra measures 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2 mm, so the extra roundness has made the phone ever so slightly taller and wider.

Display

The S26 Ultra has a new Privacy Display feature

Turning to the display, the S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra have the exact same 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, with a 3120 x 1440-pixel resolution (QHD+) and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate.

But what’s different between them is that the S26 Ultra’s display has a brand-new feature called Privacy Display, which lets you turn on a privacy filter on the phone’s screen whenever you want to make it harder to see from the sides, protecting your phone from prying eyes.

Essentially, Privacy Display works like a built-in privacy screen protector that you can toggle on and off. You can even set it to activate automatically for specific apps, such as banking or messaging. It’s hands down one of the coolest new features on the S26 Ultra, and honestly, once you try it, you’ll wish every phone had it.

Internals

The S26 Ultra has a more powerful chipset and faster charging

Another major change the S26 Ultra has compared to the S25 Ultra is its chipset. The S26 Ultra (and the S26 and S26+) is equipped with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which will give the S26 Ultra a noticeable performance boost over the S25 Ultra. RAM remains the same this year, with the S26 Ultra rocking 12GB in the 256GB and 512GB models and 16GB in the 1TB model.

In terms of battery life, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has the same 5,000 mAh battery as the S25 Ultra. However, the charging speed has improved. The S26 Ultra features 60W wired fast charging and 25W wireless charging, up from the S25 Ultra’s 40W wired and 15W wireless charging speeds.

Notably absent from the S26 Ultra is Qi2 magnetic charging. If you were hoping Samsung would follow Google’s lead after it added magnets to the Pixel 10 series last year, unfortunately, that isn’t the case here.

Cameras

Similar specs, different design

Lastly, we have the cameras, and continuing the theme of the S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra being very similar, both are equipped with nearly identical cameras: the S26 Ultra features an f/1.4 200-megapixel main wide-angle camera, an f/1.9 50-megapixel ultrawide lens, an f/2.4 10-megapixel 3x telephoto lens, and a f/1.9 50-megapixel 5x telephoto sensor. The only difference from the S25 Ultra is the 200-megapixel wide lens: the S26 Ultra has a wider f/1.4 aperture, whereas the S25 Ultra has an f/1.7 aperture, allowing more light to enter the camera sensor on the S26 Ultra and creating brighter images.

As I mentioned earlier, the camera design is different this year as well. Instead of sitting on the back, as on the S25 Ultra, the lenses now live on a pill-shaped camera island. It has a look reminiscent of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and helps the S26 Ultra stand out more from the S25 Ultra.

Thankfully, the black camera rings that surrounded the lenses on the S25 Ultra are gone, too, resulting in a cleaner look. I was honestly a bit mind-boggled when Samsung added those black rings last year, so I’m just glad they’ve been dropped this time around.

Verdict: Is the S26 Ultra a worthwhile upgrade over the S25 Ultra?

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s most powerful smartphone yet. And while it’s largely an incremental upgrade over the S25 Ultra, it still has a few meaningful improvements — including the faster Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, improved charging speeds, and the new Privacy Display.

That said, if you’re already using an S25 Ultra or S24 Ultra, there’s not a whole lot here that truly justifies upgrading. But if you’re coming from an S21, S22, or S23 Ultra, the S26 Ultra is absolutely worth a look, especially since Samsung has kept the starting price at $1,300 this year. That’s notable, considering the S26 and S26+ both saw $100 price hikes.

Personally, I would’ve liked to see Samsung take a few more risks with the S26 Ultra — maybe shake up the design a bit more, similar to what Apple did with the iPhone 17 Pro last year — just to make things more exciting. A bigger camera leap, a larger battery, or even built-in magnets would’ve gone a long way, too.

Overall, though, Samsung has further refined its top-tier flagship. It’s undeniably powerful, but not all that surprising.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is available for pre-order now and will launch on March 11.

SoC

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Display

6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X

RAM

12 or 16 GB

Storage

256GB, 512GB, or 1TB