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Galaxy S26 Ultra. | Image by PhoneArena
Galaxy S26 Ultra is finally here
What's changed vs Galaxy S25 Ultra:
Privacy Display: an all-new display black-out tech to hide sensitive content from angle-view
Slight redesign with new camera island and thinner
Faster wired charging
Huge amount of AI features added and enhanced
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, specifically designed for enhanced AI performance.
Release timeline:
The Galaxy S26 Ultra was announced on February 25th, and will hit the shelves on March 11th.
Price:
Starts at $1,299.99 for 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage, same as Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Galaxy S26 Ultra: pre-order for up to $900 off
$399
99
$1299
99
$900 off (69%)
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has been announced, bringing a Privacy Screen feature, insanely fast processor, and multiple Galaxy AI enhancements. Right now, you can pre-order the flagship for up to $900 off with eligible trade-ins.
Samsung Unpacked 2026 official invitation. | Image by Samsung
The Galaxy S26 Ultra was announced during an Unpacked event on February 25. Pre-orders are now live, and the phone will be hitting the shelves officially on March 11, 2026.
Device family
Announcement
Market release
Samsung Galaxy S23 series
February 1, 2023
February 17th, 2023
Samsung Galaxy S24 series
January 17, 2024
January 31, 2024
Samsung Galaxy S25 series
January 22, 2025
February 7, 2025
Samsung Galaxy S26 series
February 25, 2026
March 11, 2026
Galaxy S26 Ultra price and deals
Phone model
256GB of storage
512GB of storage
1TB of storage
Galaxy S23 Ultra
$1199.99
$1299.99
$1619.99
Galaxy S24 Ultra
$1299.99
$1419.99
$1659.99
Galaxy S25 Ultra
$1299.99
$1419.99
$1659.99
Galaxy S26 Ultra
$1299.99
$1419.99
$1659.99
The Galaxy S Ultra series is already quite pricey, even at the starting level. The Galaxy S26 Ultra, however, keeps the same starting price as its predecessor, unlike the base and the Plus model, which are becoming more expensive.
Galaxy S26 Ultra deals:
Samsung: Samsung always celebrates new models with the so-called "enhanced trade-in" — the manufacturer will give you extra credit for an old phone, if it goes towards the purchase of the new model. Add to that the exclusive colors that you can only get on Samsung.com and there's plenty of incentive to go direct to the manufacturer.
Verizon: Verizon is currently offering you the ability to save up to $1100 on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra.
T-Mobile: You can get a free Galaxy S26 Ultra with an unlimited line.
AT&T: AT&T is currently offering you a free S26 Ultra with trade-in and unlimited line.
Galaxy S26 Ultra camera
Galaxy S26 Ultra camera setup:
200 MP main wide camera now captures 47% more light, f/1.4, 0.6µm
50 MP ultra-wide camera, f/1.9, 0.7µm
50 MP zoom camera captures 37% more vivid colors, f/2.9, 0.7µm
10 MP 3x optical zoom camera, f/2.4, 1.0µm
12 MP selfie camera with wider FOV
Samsung is bringing upgrades in the camera department, although these are not in the MP count. Instead, the company is now offering a wider aperture for its main camera, which allows for the sensor to collect 47% more light for brighter photos even in low-light conditions.
The better application processor brings enhanced noise reduction to the camera. This way, the low-light performance becomes even better.
Video capturing is also getting improved with a Super Steady video feature. The feature uses gyro and accelerometer data in real time to automatically lock your horizon. This results in smooth and stable footage. There’s also real-time AI processing, which allows for more dynamic videos at 4K with autoframe.
Meanwhile, Enhanced Nightography Video ensures your footage is clear and more vibrant even in low-light conditions.
Meanwhile, the S26 Ultra is the first Galaxy phone to support Advanced Professional Video (or APV) format. This new standard allows for up to 8K at 30 fps videos.
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The selfie camera is also getting enhancements in image processing and it should now offer improved hair textures and skin tones that look more realistic in any lighting condition.
Of course, the camera on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is getting supported by a plethora of AI features. Photo Assist is here once again, and now can add to images, not just remove. You can completely transform a scene, including from a day scene to a night scene. Photo Editing Workflow allows you to edit photos from the gallery and continues edits without you having to restart the process.
Creative Studio is a new platform that accepts all sorts of prompts (images, sketches, text) to create stickers, wallpaper, invitations and all sorts of things.
Moreover, Audio Eraser now works across YouTube, Netflix, and Instagram. You get new quick-panel controls that help you use the feature without having to leave the app.
The storage options have been 256 GB to 1 TB for a few years now. In 2026, that remains the standard. 256 GB is plenty of space, if you love recording video a bit too much, 512 GB will do you fine, and 1 TB is for the heavy users.
Galaxy S26 Ultra design
The Galaxy S26 Ultra in Cobalt Violet. | Image by PhoneArena
The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with refinements in its design, and the S26 and S26 Plus now match it better with less rounded corners. The phone boasts a new camera island look and has also now been slimmed down.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra from the side. | Image by PhoneArena
Galaxy S26 Ultra dimensions and weight:
78.1 × 163.6 × 7.9 mm 214 g (Sub6/mmWave)
The phone comes in four main colors and it has two Samsung.com-exclusive colors:
Black
White
Sky Blue
Cobalt Violet
Silver Shadow (exclusive)
Pink Gold (exclusive)
The S Pen is also here, but it's not getting its controls from distance.
Unfortunately, despite earlier rumors that we’re getting full Qi2 functionality, this hasn’t happened this time around.
Galaxy S26 Ultra display
Phone
Screen size
Brightness
Galaxy S26 Ultra
6.9"
2,600 nits peak
Galaxy S25 Ultra
6.9"
2,600 nits peak
The hottest new feature of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is its Privacy Display. The feature offers protection at the pixel level. It acts as a privacy protection that hides the contents of the display from prying eyes.
The new privacy screen settings. | Image by PhoneArena
The feature has standard (Partial Screen Privacy) and maximum privacy mode (Maximum Privacy Protection) that you can choose from. Obviously, the maximum privacy mode reduces the image quality and contrast, but it completely hides the content of the screen when viewed from an angle.
Galaxy S26 Ultra with privacy display on from the side. | Image by PhoneArena
You can select to activate the privacy display feature for specific apps, so this way you can choose what to protect. Moreover, you can choose to activate the feature for when you’re entering PINs, patterns, and passwords for apps.
The Privacy Display feature works by controlling how pixels disperse light.
The display panel itself remains the same size: 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with QHD+ resolution (3120×1440) and 500 ppi. As usual, it supports an adaptable refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz.
Teaser showing the Galaxy S26 Ultra privacy display feature. | Video by Samsung
Meanwhile, Samsung is now offering an AI-powered ProScaler for the display, which makes photos and videos on the S26 Ultra's display appear better and more detailed.
Galaxy S26 Ultra battery
Battery size is not changing with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and we’re getting another 5,000 mAh cell.
However, Samsung is upgrading the charging speeds, and now the Ultra supports up to 65W wired charging. With the upgraded charging speeds, Samsung says the S26 Ultra can charge from 0 to 75% in approximately 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, there’s a refined battery algorithm that learns your usage patterns and optimizes energy consumption in real time.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra ships with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16. The Galaxy AI suite is here once again, with some notable upgrades.
You now have a new AI-powered screenshot analyzer. Your screenshots get analyzed and categorized (there are 8 categories), so you can find what you need faster.
The Now Brief and Now Bar are again making a return this time around. However, the Now Brief is now more deeply integrated with the personal data engine and learns from notifications, messages, and other interactions with your phone to give you more relevant suggestions. There's a new Now Nudge feature which reacts to the context of your screen to prompt you with useful shortcuts.
Now Bar is also getting better with adaptive recommendations (for example, suggesting booking an Uber when it’s time to leave for an appointment you have).
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is also getting the upgraded Bixby, which now supports real-time internet search and natural language. Samsung also allows you to choose another assistant, including Gemini and Perplexity, if you want that.
There’s a Private Album feature now built into the Gallery. Thanks to this feature, you can hide selected photos and videos without having to create a separate album or sign into a Samsung Account.
Circle to Search is also getting upgraded with multi-object recognition, so you can find out more about more than one object in a photo at a time.
For updates, Samsung has been promising 7 years of support with its recent phones, and this means that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will get Android 23 with One UI 15 in 2033.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy in all regions. The chip is specifically designed with a focus on Galaxy AI. Samsung is now bringing a 39% boost to the advanced NPU and 24% greater graphics processing in comparison to the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Moreover, the CPU is now processing tasks 19% faster.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with a new thermal interface material and a redesigned vapor chamber. Thanks to these changes, the phone dissipates over 20% more heat than its predecessor, according to Samsung.
Galaxy S26 Ultra and Exynos?
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is only available with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in all regions, unlike its smaller siblings, which have an Exynos/Snapdragon regional split.
You should wait for Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra if you currently own a Galaxy S24 Ultra or even an S23 Ultra. The differences in the phones are big, so you can upgrade to the S26 Ultra and enjoy some new, exclusive features, including the new privacy display option.
You should not wait for Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra if you currently have the S25 Ultra and you don't need the privacy display feature.
Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.
