Samsung is nothing if not consistent. Like clockwork, the company kicks off each year with a fresh batch of Galaxy S phones. Rumors about shaking up the lineup didn’t pan out, so we’re still looking at three models: the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra. The Ultra, with its eye-watering $1,300 starting price, continues to be the best-selling flagship—even though you can get a perfectly good phone for a third of that.
That’s fine. The S26 Ultra isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who want the biggest, baddest, most feature-packed slab of glass and metal Samsung can build. And this year, that means a phone that’s overflowing with hardware and software tricks, some genuinely useful, others feeling like answers to questions nobody asked.
Design and Display
The S26 Ultra doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It’s still a massive, flat-edged rectangle with a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. The bezels are thinner than last year, which is nice, but you’re not going to mistake this for anything other than an Ultra. The matte glass back feels premium and does a decent job of repelling fingerprints. The frame is titanium again, which keeps the weight in check—it’s heavy, but not unwieldy for its size.
The display is stunning. Peak brightness hits 2,600 nits, and the 120Hz variable refresh rate is butter smooth. Samsung knows how to make screens, and this is one of the best in the business. HDR content looks fantastic, and outdoor visibility is no longer an issue. If I had one complaint, it’s that the curved edges are gone—a concession to durability and screen protector compatibility, but I miss the old look.
Performance and Battery
Inside, you’ll find the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy—a slightly overclocked version of Qualcomm’s latest. It’s fast. Really fast. Apps open instantly, multitasking is effortless, and even the most demanding games run at high settings without breaking a sweat. Samsung’s One UI 7, based on Android 16, is smooth and responsive. The company promises seven years of OS upgrades and security patches, which is genuinely impressive.
Battery life is solid. The 5,000mAh cell easily gets through a full day of heavy use, and with the efficiency improvements from the new chip, light users might stretch to two days. Charging speeds haven’t improved much—45W wired and 15W wireless—which is disappointing when Chinese competitors are pushing 100W+. But it’s adequate for most people, and the charging curve is well-optimized.
Cameras
The camera setup is where the S26 Ultra really flexes. The main 200MP sensor returns, joined by a 50MP ultrawide, a 50MP 3x telephoto, and a 10MP 10x periscope telephoto. There’s also a new 12MP front-facing camera. The results are predictably excellent. Daylight shots are sharp, detailed, and have that Samsung look—slightly oversaturated but punchy and pleasing. Low-light performance is top-tier, with the larger sensor pulling in plenty of light without aggressive noise reduction.
The zoom capabilities remain class-leading. The 10x optical zoom is still a party trick that rivals can’t match, and Samsung’s AI-enhanced digital zoom up to 100x is surprisingly usable in good light. Video recording goes up to 8K at 30fps, and the stabilization is excellent. If you’re a mobile photography enthusiast, this is the phone to beat.
AI Features: The Good and the Gimmicky
Samsung has gone all-in on AI this year. The S26 Ultra is packed with Galaxy AI features, many of which are genuinely useful. Live Translate works in real-time for calls and messages, and it’s surprisingly accurate. The AI photo editor can remove objects, expand backgrounds, and adjust lighting with a few taps. The new “AI Briefing” feature summarizes your day’s notifications and calendar events in a single glance.
But there’s also plenty of bloat. The AI-powered “Portrait Studio” creates cartoon avatars that look uncanny. The “AI Voice Recorder” transcribes meetings, but it’s slower than dedicated apps. And Samsung’s insistence on pushing Bixby—yes, Bixby is still here—is tiresome. You can disable most of it, but out of the box, the phone feels like it’s trying too hard to sell you on AI.
Privacy and Security
Samsung has made privacy a focus this year. The S26 Ultra includes a dedicated security chip for storing biometric data and encryption keys. Knox Vault is still the gold standard for Android security, and the phone now supports seamless updates, so security patches install in the background. There’s also a new “Private Share” feature that lets you control how long recipients can view shared files. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s welcome.
Verdict
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a beast. It’s expensive, oversized, and packed with features you may never use. But if you want the best Android phone money can buy, this is it. The camera is phenomenal, the display is gorgeous, and the performance is top-tier. The AI features are hit-or-miss, but you can ignore the ones you don’t like. And with seven years of support, it’s an investment that will last.
Is it worth $1,300? That depends on how much you value the best camera system and the biggest screen. If you don’t need those things, the S26 or S26 Plus will serve you just as well for less. But if you want the ultimate Samsung experience, the S26 Ultra delivers—flaws and all.
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