Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review (early verdict): Finessing Android's finest phone

If you avidly follow Samsung's phone launches – Galaxy Unpacked being the twice-a-year mainstay event – then you might be looking at your calendar and wondering why the Galaxy S26 Ultra is so much later to show face, compared to last year's product reveal.

When it comes to making the best Android phones, progress doesn't happen overnight. But even with additional time to work with, at first glance you might be wondering just what the Korean giant has been up to with its latest flagship. Was it worth the wait? And is it that much better than its S25 Ultra predecessor?

I can confirm there's more here than first meets the eye, though. A world-first display technology, Privacy Display, is a key addition. A new design, which finesses the camera enclosure and rounds out the now-marginally-thinner body, gives an even more refined aesthetic. The cameras gain wider apertures for greater light-handling properties, too. And, in addition to faster charging, there's more that I'll cover below.

Prior to the official reveal at Samsung's first Unpacked event of 2026, I was able to check out the phone at an HQ briefing session for this early first impressions review. As you read this, I'll be using the new phone full-time as my own, with a full review to follow. In the run-up to that, though, is the S26 Ultra already in with a shout at being the best phone of 2026?

Price & Availability

Ahead of Unpacked kicking off, I've been provided with UK, US, Australian and Euro pricing, which I've laid out in the table below for the Ultra's three storage capacity variants.

If you're reading this ahead of the 11 March on-sale date, then it's worth noting – in the UK (and EU, but not USA or Australia) – that there's a great "double storage promotion" for those pre-ordering.

Pay for 256GB and you receive 512GB, saving almost 12%. Pay for the 512GB, however, and you'll receive the 1TB variant – which is also the only model to plump for 16GB RAM (up from 12GB in the others).

Year-on-year the S26 Ultra does therefore cost marginally more than its predecessor in the UK. I'm talking £30, though, which equates to 2.4% by my calculations. Given economic inflationary factors, that's in line with the cost of living, rather than being outlandishly out of sorts.

It's worth highlighting how tumultuous RAM/storage pricing has become in the consumer technology space in recent months, too, with phone, laptop and storage peripheral pricing on a steep rise. The S26 Ultra, it seems, skirts around this wider issue.

What's New?

• Camera upgrades:
  • Main and wide-angle cameras add faster apertures
  • 3x tele features a new sensor (but remains 10MP)
  • Lens improvements for all optics
• Introduces 'Privacy Display' – a first in screen tech
• More rounded corners as part of design update
• New and even deeper camera enclosure
• Thinner (-0.3mm to 7.9mm thick)
• 60W wired charging

In a number of ways, the Galaxy S26 is akin to its predecessor. I take that as a good thing, though, as this many generations in the S-series flagship has carved out its own iconic look – which it keeps building upon.

At first glance, the most obvious change is to the rear: the newer handset's camera enclosure is now even more decorative, with a raised section surrounding the key trio of lenses. This protrusion is also more significant – but not for the sake of it. Rather, the increased aperture value of two key lenses demanded the additional depth.

The cameras are better, therefore, with improved optics all round too, but to still be using a 10-megapixel for the mid-step 3x optical zoom feels to me that it's now behind the pack (irrelevant of the new, updated sensor in this role).

Oh, and the 'desk wobble' when laying the S26 Ultra flat is really quite something. Much as I don't love most Chinese manufacturers' giant circular camera enclosures, at least they do avoid this irk.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra's display is the same size, resolution and brightness as its predecessor. But it hides away one very favourable trick: Privacy Display. This new feature is only in the Ultra model, utilises a new screen hardware – the to-market update of Samsung Display's earlier Flex Magic Pixel technology – and can limit more acute fields of view, to enable heightened privacy.

The S26 Ultra's central body is also slightly more slender than its predecessor. I'm talking 0.3mm, though, so I can't feel that by hand whatsoever. It trims a few grams off its weight too – again, nothing that can really be felt.

With this updated design, you might be wondering whether the S Pen stylus has made it into the S26 Ultra. Indeed it has, in a nip-and-tuck design refresh of its own. The handset's more rounded corners aren't cause for panic, therefore, with the small stowage to the base remaining easily accessible. It's a great tool for those who enjoy using a pen-like addition for their workflow.

Design & Display

• 6.9-inch AMOLED panel with Privacy Display
  • QHD+ resolution (3120 x 1440)
  • 2600 nits peak brightness
  • 1-120Hz refresh rate
• Colourways: Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, White, Black
• Armour Aluminium finish, no longer Titanium
• IP68 water/dust resistance

While the Galaxy S24 series introduced a titanium frame, which continued in the S25 Ultra, the S26 Ultra moves to the brand's Armor Aluminium 2. The reason? It's not fully clear – but I have queried this with Samsung. I do know of people who complained about titanium's ability to scuff/mark, so it could well be related to durability.

As is typically the case with any new phone, there's also a new champion colourway. Cobalt Violet, as it's called, is a sort of purplish-grey – and the S26 Ultra's key finish. Muted palettes seem to be everywhere this year – with the exception of coral or 'berry' colours – and the subtle Sky Blue and Black or White finishes are equally as subtle.

I've said it before for previous S-series phone launches: I feel that Samsung's design has an iconic presence about it. That tall, bar-like standing, with its trio of larger lenses arranged vertically down one side, is a distinctive look – one that's not part of other phone-makers' repertoires.

The display itself, at 6.9 inches across its diagonal, is, in core specification terms, the same as its predecessor. That means it's an OLED panel capable of a maximum peak output of 2600 nits and 1-120Hz refresh variation across its QHD+ resolution (1440 x 3120 pixels). It continues with ProScaler to upscale content, too.

The major display difference is, of course, that it's not the same. Privacy Display is the key part here, which is only available on the S26 Ultra model, allowing through the press of a virtual button in Settings, for the feature to be activated – limiting acute angles of view from would-be snoopers.

It's hardware that integrates wide and narrow pixels, disabling the wide ones for privacy to be active. However, software can intelligently identify notifications, as one example, which are the only area of the screen to be 'blocked'.

That it doesn't have to just be a binary on/off feature (unless you prefer that) is what's most impressive. While you can't enable Galaxy AI to detect a would-be need for its activation, you can apply it per app, or specifically for PIN entry and notifications.

Privacy Display is arguably the S26 Ultra's biggest new feature, delivering something that no other phone can offer. It's really impressive in practice, with a far sharper fall-off of visual from steeper angles, meaning privacy is truly heightened. I suspect this is only the beginning of where the technology will go.

Performance & Battery

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 'for Galaxy' variant
• 12GB RAM as standard, 16GB RAM in the 1TB model
• 5,000mAh battery, 60W (25W wireless) charging
• Redesigned vapour chamber for cooling

I can confirm that all Galaxy S26 Ultra handsets come fitted with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the 'for Galaxy' overclocked variant. In the UK and many other regions, it's the only handset with Snapdragon – the S26 and S26 Plus are the world's first to bring Samsung's 2-nanometre Exynos chip to the party instead.

I've used plenty of Gen 5 chips in various phones and have been impressed throughout. So, for the S26 Ultra to bring the overclocked 'for Galaxy' version means it's even more powerful. To further enhance that, the vapour chamber for cooling has again been redesigned to enable a greater push of power for longer periods.

How that'll all marry up, given the 5,000mAh on board, is something I'll need to explore further when reviewing the phone. You'll note that's the same capacity Li-ion battery type as used in the past two generations of devices. It does now charge faster, though, at up to 60W – a much-needed upgrade, although still not at the bleeding edge of what else is out there.

I've spent a lot of time using silicon-carbon battery types in various new handsets, from Oppo's Find X9 Pro, to the OnePlus 15, and the difference is spectacular. Samsung has been testing it, 'after years of work' – as I had confirmed last year when querying an exec after a previous Unpacked event – so I was hopeful the S26 Ultra would be on board as the first Galaxy phone to embody this. Alas, it's not the case.

Elsewhere, Samsung's Galaxy AI features get a boost. The Now Brief daily overview also provides a Now Nudge, offering real-time suggestions when the system identifies they're needed. A new feature, called Automated App Action will debut in the USA and Korea, delivering agentic cross-app action, with contextual input drawn from a wider range of apps. We'll have to wait longer before that's rolled out to wider markets though. But I'm glad to see that genuinely useful AI opportunities are growing.

Cameras

• Main (24mm): 200-megapixel, f/1.4 aperture, optical stabilisation (OIS)
• Zoom (5x, 120mm): 50MP, f/2.9, OIS
• Zoom (3x, 70mm): 10MP, f/2.4, OIS
• Wide (13mm): 50MP, f/1.9

The S25 Ultra's rear certainly doesn't look the same as its predecessor's, marking the handset's biggest design change. It's also a change with reasoning: the main and 5x telephoto cameras now have wider apertures, for handling increased light input, which – and this is due to the laws of physics – demands greater physical depth for focus to be achieved. That's why the enclosure is deeper than before.

Otherwise the core spec remains the same, meaning there's that 50-megapixel 5x telephoto zoom, an ultra-resolution 200MP main camera, and an in-between 3x optical zoom. The last of those, while still only 10MP in resolution, is a new and updated sensor.

I've only had a brief use of the S26 Ultra's camera suite so far, but know from previous iterations that the brand is onto a good thing. Whether it's enough to stay steps ahead of its encroaching competition, however, is a broader question. I do think that Samsung's range of ease-of-use and Galaxy AI features will be part of the lure, though, as will the promise of better low-light shots due to the aperture improvements on its key lenses.

It might look like a minor update, but I think Samsung is likely to deliver strongly where it matters for most users. Even just testing video features like Super Steady Video – which now offers a horizon lock, so it stabilises to that horizontal positioning even when you're moving/wobbling about – goes to show practicality that'll be a daily benefit to many people.

Now I've got an S26 Ultra to use as my own for a full review, it's the camera section that I'll be giving particular attention. Fortunately I've got some early mornings and late nights planned already, to give the spectrum of lenses greater assessment.

Initial Impressions

The Android phone market continues to evolve, with Samsung doubling down on its long-standing success in the premium flagship space. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is ultimately a finessing of Android's finest.

Look at its surrounding competition: Google's Pixel 10 XL was barely different to its predecessor; while multiple Chinese brands continue to evolve their offerings with ever more fierce camera and battery implementations – but I just find the Samsung software setup far superior for day-to-day use.

With additions you'll find nowhere else – the Privacy Display, S Pen stylus implementation and software features, overclocked Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and forthcoming Galaxy AI expansion – the Galaxy S26 Ultra clearly still makes its mark.