Samsung Galaxy Ultra S26: Review

The latest iteration of Samsung's flagship phones lineup is one of those pieces of tech that you'll either already be sold on or are a little wary of.

It's not entirely unfair to say that the Samsung Galaxy Ultra S26 has been radically changed for its latest release with it feeling like it's just minor tweaks that have been made on the Galaxy Ultra S25.

Perhaps most importantly, what emerges is a sense that Samsung is solidifying its place in the market with a brand that continues to impress, even if the price point stings a little during an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

With its rounded corners and its relatively lightweight feel (this year's model is a little heavier due to the use of aluminium in the case), the Samsung Galaxy Ultra impresses out of the box. Thanks to minimal sleek packaging, the company's not really messing around, with a USB-C charging cord, a Sim tray ejector and instructions making up the package.

And if you've already used a Galaxy phone before, the set-up process will once again be very familiar and easy to navigate. It's not to overstate this - or even understate it - but the ease with which you can be up and running within moments is still something that in today's marketplace impresses and also speaks to addressing how older generations use phones and get confused by technology. This way, they don't feel left behind.

It has to be said, that once again, without a cover to encase it, the camera forces the phone to sit at an angle when laid flat, something which is a bit of a personal bugbear for OCD users and one which forces you to consider scratching the beautiful AMOLED screen if you have to lay it on its front. It seems like a trivial niggle really, but the lack of cameras being built in continues to dog these phones and forces you to invest in high-end cases from the get-go.

Capturing and dealing with the glare of the beach.

Visually, there's little change on the phone's set up. Buttons down the side, SIM tray and little else keep the sides of the phone smooth and play to the perfectionist design edge that Samsung deploys with the kit. As mentioned, the rounded edges make the phone feel more premium and polished, a welcome touch.

The shot of the cat was taken at normal magnification, but teems with detail and clarity.

With a simple HUD and easy to navigate screens, Samsung's clearly gone for ensuring stability between generations and while it's deployed a Privacy Display to ensure that only you can read the screen while holding it straight on, there's nothing majorly radical in terms of how you use the phone.

Battery life feels like it's taken a bit of a hit this time around though. 

Captured at normal magnification

When the phone's used for minimal amounts of time, it's consistent and solid. But the moment you start tinkering with it and playing around, the battery consumption increases and the power seems to drop quicker than you'd want. It managed around 13 hours on a full charge of moderate use - but the upside is that the phone charges pretty quickly, getting a full boost after about 90 minutes.

But quality is what matters and the Samsung Galaxy Ultra S26 delivers it in spades.

Its video playing on the wonderful AMOLED screen is crystal clear and offers excellent quality any time you choose to view. With a brightness that perks up the colours and solid Bluetooth and WiFi connection ensuring there's never any buffering, there's much to be said for watching on the small screen. (Although the superior Galaxy Fold offers a much wider viewing experience.)

And once again, the camera offers high quality photography in your hand - as well as a range of AI options and filters to fix up images. From remastering photos to removing shadows, to filters which brighten colours, the camera array on the back of the phone more or less makes up for the fact the phone doesn't sit flat.

Impressive magnification also helps as well, providing clarity in images that sometimes the eyes just can't match. Granted at extreme magnification, things begin to blur but the camera's optics provide more than enough bang for the buck - and with plenty of editing options after, it turns anyone into an expert.

 The chance to make video from your photos is also a fun one too - there's a long list of tinkering to be done with this phone and it's all enjoyable if you're someone who takes pride in their imagery. Samsung says it's improved the brightness on the lenses, allowing the apertures to let in more light. It's certainly something that's surprisingly effective during a sunny day on a beach, capturing both the glare of the sun but not overwhelming it at the same time.

Same photo as left, but 30x closer.

At the end of the day though, it's also a phone - and it has to be said, audio quality of calls is nothing short of crisp, clear and concise. The phone also pairs nicely with the Samsung Buds Pro 4 and offers a range of audio options as a reward for being in the ecosystem (read the Samsung Buds Pro 4 review here), so it pays to be a Samsung user.

Overall, it feels like the Samsung Galaxy Ultra S26 is the kind of Samsung experience you'd want for 2026. 

It's hard not to recommend it over the S25, but users do need to beware the tweaks are more minimal than you'd expect for an annual release.

But in terms of what the tech does, what it offers and how it feels to use it daily, this is the kind of phone Samsung's hordes of Android users will want - sleek, polished performance that doesn't appear to diminish over time and keeps its fanbase one step ahead of the rest.