The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra drops titanium and returns to an Armor Aluminium frame, signaling a subtle but meaningful design change ahead of its official launch on March 11.
Even with the new material, the phone keeps the familiar Ultra design. It becomes the slimmest Ultra model yet at 7.9mm thick, which is 0.3mm thinner than its predecessor. The device weighs 214g and still uses Corning Gorilla Armor 2 protection on the front, along with the built-in S Pen. Buyers will have colour options including White, Black, Cobalt, Violet, and Sky Blue.
Processor and Performance
Samsung has adopted a split chipset strategy for the lineup. The standard Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus run on the new 2nm Exynos 2600 processor. The company claims the chip improves neural processing by 39%, graphics performance by 24%, and CPU output by 19%.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy globally. Samsung has also increased memory, making 12GB RAM standard across the range, while the 1TB Ultra model offers 16GB RAM.
Display and Cooling Improvements
The Ultra model features a 6.9-inch display. The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus offer 6.3-inch and 6.7-inch panels, respectively. Samsung says the updated ProScaler technology and the new mDNIe 10-bit processor improve upscaled content and significantly enhance colour depth on the Ultra, delivering up to four times richer colours.
Cooling has also improved. A redesigned vapour chamber increases heat dissipation by 21%, although this upgrade is limited to the Ultra variant.
Battery and Charging
Charging speeds have increased as well. The Ultra supports 60W wired charging and can reach about 75% battery in roughly 30 minutes. It also supports faster 25W wireless charging.
Camera and Video Features
Photography remains a key highlight. The Ultra introduces a 200MP primary camera with a wider f/1.4 aperture, making it 47% brighter than the previous model. The 50MP telephoto camera also improves, moving from an f/3.4 to an f/2.9 aperture for better low-light performance.
Video recording also sees upgrades. The phone offers improved Nightography recording, enhanced Super Steady stabilisation with 360-degree correction, and 8K video recording at 30fps using the APV codec.
Galaxy AI and Privacy Features
Samsung continues to expand Galaxy AI features. A new “Now Nudge” tool gives contextual suggestions based on what appears on the screen. Circle to Search can now identify multiple objects at the same time.
The Ultra also introduces a pixel-level privacy display. This feature limits viewing angles and allows users to mask specific areas of the screen on an app-by-app basis.
Price and Availability
Pricing starts at GBP 879 (about USD 1,186) for the Galaxy S26, GBP 1,099 (USD 1,483) for the Galaxy S26 Plus, and GBP 1,279 (USD 1,731) for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The full lineup will go on sale on March 11 following its official unveiling.