The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra launched earlier this year and as it is with all flagships, the Korean electronics brand is going all out to impress with this model. However, it’s clear that Samsung is recycling some aesthetics and design points from last year’s flagship, however subtle they may be.
So, with a slimmer-looking body, a faster chipset, and a display that favours personal privacy over its predecessors, how much better is this new phone?
Specifications
Looks and Functionality
If you’re looking for something groundbreaking with the S26 Ultra, you’re going to be disappointed. The phone is a near carbon copy of last year’s S25 Ultra. We say near because unlike its predecessor, it’s got more curves, literally.
The overall shape of the S6 Ultra is slimmer, with the edges being more rounded, and less protrusive. There’s also some obvious internal hardware changes, too.
Technically, the phone is rocking the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC that we covered at its launch last year. There’s also the 12GB RAM as the bare minimum for the flagship, with the top-tier SKU getting 16GB of storage and a whopping 1TB of internal storage.
The display is the same size as the S25 Ultra, but the main difference, if not obvious, with this year’s model is that it’s a Privacy Display, which is something I’ll get into in the Performance section.
At the base, you’ve got the standard USB-C port, the SIM card port, and the phone’s stylus in its housing. The rear of the phone is smooth and unassuming, with the main camera island jutting out of the back, which in turn prevents the phone from lying flush on a flat surface. As always, a proper casing is recommended if you’re a stickler for wanting it to stay flat.
One gripe that I have with the S26 Ultra also lies with the S Pen and, more specifically, Samsung’s choice of its design this round. And frankly, it’s an OCD trigger for me.
For as long as the Note and Ultra series have been around, the top of the S Pen has always been uniform in its existence: a flat top, with smooth edges, and an alienating gap between the depression and stylus that allows one to grip or even use their fingernails to remove it from its housing.
With the S26 Ultra, there’s a curve at the top of the S pen now that forces, forces you to insert it back in one way, in order for it to stay flush to the borders of the phone. Just so we’re clear, you can still reinsert the S Pen back in the other way, but doing will leave you will what I describe as a “hang nail” situation – the sharper edge of the S Pen’s top sticks out ever so slightly, and if you’re not using a casing with this phone, you are most definitely going to feel the unevenness of it.
Honestly, it’s giving me Note 5 vibes all over again, the only difference here being that sticking the S Pen back in the wrong orientation doesn’t destroy it.
Performance and Battery
So, I’ll just go through the basic points here. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is, as expected, really powerful and really fast. Compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Qualcomm’s flagship chipset of this generation is really giving it the beans. Again, it’s a fluid experience for a flagship, with lag being non-existent. And yes: gaming is effortless.
Post-processing on an image is done in an instant, no matter how many shots I take consecutively, the final output of the image is there in the gallery. You may think that this feature is not a big deal, but coming from the S24 Ultra, that updated speed makes a difference.
Battery life is still a plus point with the S26 Ultra, just as it was with previous generations of Ultras. On the daily, I get, on average, 36 hours of life from running music from Spotify, watching the occasional YouTube or Netflix video while waiting in line or riding on the train, checking and responding emails and messages. All that jazz.
On a continuous loop running videos at 40% brightness and volume, the S26 Ultra is able to sustain itself from more than 20 hours before it finally reached single-digit battery life.
Then there’s Privacy Display, the feature Samsung is quite adamant on pushing with the S26 Ultra. Truth be told, it’s a hard sell, and for a couple of reasons. Let me get this out of the way: yes, the feature is handy and it’s neat that you can adjust the level of privacy on the display, ranging from just the notifications or the entire display.
In regards to the latter option, there’s the maximum privacy mode if you’re very anal about people reading over your shoulder, but at the cost of your screen looking very, very washed out. On a related note, it’s a feature that is exclusive to the S26 Ultra, so if you are expecting to see it on the rest of the S26 models, you’re out of luck.
Camera
Honestly, the main camera on the S26 Ultra doesn’t quite have the “oomphf” any it once commanded as when the S23 Ultra first launched. I’m not saying it’s terrible, far from it; it still captures detailed images, with minimal loss of clarity.
The larger sensor size for the wide can work like a double edge sword with low-light and night photography. Yes, it lets in and captures more light, but with all sensors that do this, there is an issue of the noise levels becoming more prominent and noticeable.
Also, it goes without saying the S26 Ultra still gets the AI erasure tool for photos, but ultimately, that is merely a gimmick, and the goal with this part of the test is to see how the phone’s camera works in real-world situation. So, naturally, the shots are almost always going to be controlled.
Sample Images
Competition
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is one of those no-brainer rivals and alternatives to the S26 Ultra, and the most current model too. Like Samsung’s flagship, it is also equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5, has 16GB RAM, and up to 1TB of storage.
What really sets the 17 Ultra apart from its rival is that Leica-certified and co-engineered main camera module. A triple-camera system, it comprises a 200MP telephoto using a large 1/1.4-inch sensor with a true optical between 75mm and 100mm; a 50MP main with a Light Fusion 1050L sensor with LOFIC technology; and a 50MP ultrawide with a 14mm focal length that supports macro shot as close as 5cm.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra feels a lot like an slight incremental upgrade over its predecessor, with the bulk of the pricing being offset by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 SoC. Seriously, it is one helluva chipset.
The price tags remain more or less the same as when the S25 Ultra launched last year from RM5,999, though, so unless you’re upgrading from the S23 or S24 Series, I personally think that you’re good for another generation or two with your S25 Ultra. As I mentioned, the Privacy Display is a hard sell, and I don’t see a lot of people getting the S26 Ultra just for this feature alone.
As for the imaging system, while it still remains impressive, the improvements to it feels small and not quite as significant over the previous generation, which again, is why I am recommending that if you’re already using the S25 Ultra, and you’re not a pixel peeper, you’re not missing out much.
