Samsung Galaxy S26+ vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S26+

Samsung

6.5

Hard to Recommend

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung

8.3

Great

What Reviewers Agree On

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers class-leading performance
6.7-inch QHD+ 1–120Hz OLED display is bright, colorful and excellent for media
Solid 13h 13m battery life in Tom's Guide testing — enough for a full day
Premium thin-and-light design matches the S26 Ultra chassis quality
Seven years of software updates remains Samsung's strongest selling point

Deal Breakers

Zero hardware upgrades over the S25+ — same camera, same battery capacity, same charging speed
Same camera system as the base S26 — no 200MP sensor, no periscope, no telephoto upgrade

Pros & Cons

Samsung Galaxy S26+

Pros

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers class-leading performance
6.7-inch QHD+ 1–120Hz OLED display is bright, colorful and excellent for media
Solid 13h 13m battery life in Tom's Guide testing — enough for a full day
Premium thin-and-light design matches the S26 Ultra chassis quality
Seven years of software updates remains Samsung's strongest selling point

Cons

Detailed Comparison

Design & Build

Samsung Galaxy S26+

The S26+ adopts a more "Ultra-like" design with less rounded corners for a unified family look. The Armor Aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection are solid. At ~7.3mm thin and ~190g, it's comfortable to hold.

The more angular design brings it closer to the Ultra aesthetic — Samsung is creating a more unified design language across the S26 family
IP68 water resistance and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 mean the S26+ remains one of the more durable options in its class

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung dropped titanium for Armor Aluminum this year, shaving the S26 Ultra to 7.9 mm (214 g) and rounding the corners further so the Ultra now visually matches the base S26 and S26+. Most reviewers welcome the weight loss and improved one-handed feel, though the move is widely read as Samsung following Apple's iPhone 17 Pro back to aluminum. The camera bump is taller and makes the phone rock more on a flat surface without a case.

The S26 Ultra is slightly slimmer (7.9 mm vs 8.2 mm) and lighter (214 g vs 218 g) than the S25 Ultra, with the weight cut partly from the switch back to aluminum.
Samsung has finished the job of bringing the Ultra's aesthetics in line with the regular S26 and S26+ — all hints of the boxy Note look are gone.

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What Reviewers Agree On

The Privacy Display is a genuinely useful, world-first hardware feature that blacks out the screen from side angles and can be toggled per-app or for notifications only.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy is the fastest mobile chip in an Android phone right now — multi-core Geekbench jumps from ~9,800 on the S25 Ultra to 10,700–11,240, with class-leading sustained gaming.
The switch back to aluminum from titanium makes the phone thinner (7.9 mm) and lighter (214 g), with most reviewers saying it feels better in the hand.
The main 200 MP (now f/1.4) and 5x telephoto (now f/2.9) get real low-light gains from the wider apertures despite the sensors being carried over from the S25 Ultra.
Charging finally gets meaningful gains — 60W wired (up from 45W) and 25W wireless (up from 15W) via Qi 2.2.
Seven years of Android and security updates (through Android 23 / 2033) match the best long-term support window in the industry.
The 6.9-inch 3120x1440 120Hz AMOLED — even with the new pixel structure — remains one of the best displays on any smartphone, with 2,600-nit peak brightness.

Deal Breakers

Samsung stuck with the same 5,000 mAh battery for the sixth consecutive Ultra while OnePlus is shipping 7,500 mAh silicon-carbon cells and Oppo is at 6,270–7,500 mAh — Trusted Reviews, 9to5Google, Engadget and Wired all flag this as the S26 Ultra's weakest point.
There are still no built-in Qi2 magnets — you need a first- or third-party magnetic case to get full-speed 25W wireless charging and MagSafe-style accessories, a compromise Wired, 9to5Google, Ars Technica and Austin Evans call unacceptable in 2026.
The camera sensors are physically unchanged from the S25 Ultra — no new hardware except the wider apertures and a smaller 5x periscope — and Chinese rivals like the Oppo Find X9 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Ultra have clearly overtaken Samsung on absolute image quality.
The new pixel architecture that enables Privacy Display has silently nerfed Samsung's famous anti-reflective coating — both Mrwhosetheboss and SuperSaf confirmed the S26 Ultra reflects more than the S25 Ultra even with Privacy Display switched off.
Most Galaxy AI features — Now Brief, Now Nudge, Photo Assist, agentic automation — are still slow, unreliable or duplicate existing Google and rival-phone features, per Ars Technica, 9to5Mac, The Verge and Wired.
The S Pen silo still has no Bluetooth and the higher-storage tiers quietly jumped to $1,499 (512 GB) and $1,799 (1 TB) — a price hike 9to5Google explicitly calls out.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Pros

The Privacy Display is a genuinely useful, world-first hardware feature that blacks out the screen from side angles and can be toggled per-app or for notifications only.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy is the fastest mobile chip in an Android phone right now — multi-core Geekbench jumps from ~9,800 on the S25 Ultra to 10,700–11,240, with class-leading sustained gaming.
The switch back to aluminum from titanium makes the phone thinner (7.9 mm) and lighter (214 g), with most reviewers saying it feels better in the hand.
The main 200 MP (now f/1.4) and 5x telephoto (now f/2.9) get real low-light gains from the wider apertures despite the sensors being carried over from the S25 Ultra.
Charging finally gets meaningful gains — 60W wired (up from 45W) and 25W wireless (up from 15W) via Qi 2.2.
Seven years of Android and security updates (through Android 23 / 2033) match the best long-term support window in the industry.
The 6.9-inch 3120x1440 120Hz AMOLED — even with the new pixel structure — remains one of the best displays on any smartphone, with 2,600-nit peak brightness.

Cons

Samsung stuck with the same 5,000 mAh battery for the sixth consecutive Ultra while OnePlus is shipping 7,500 mAh silicon-carbon cells and Oppo is at 6,270–7,500 mAh — Trusted Reviews, 9to5Google, Engadget and Wired all flag this as the S26 Ultra's weakest point.
There are still no built-in Qi2 magnets — you need a first- or third-party magnetic case to get full-speed 25W wireless charging and MagSafe-style accessories, a compromise Wired, 9to5Google, Ars Technica and Austin Evans call unacceptable in 2026.
The camera sensors are physically unchanged from the S25 Ultra — no new hardware except the wider apertures and a smaller 5x periscope — and Chinese rivals like the Oppo Find X9 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Ultra have clearly overtaken Samsung on absolute image quality.
The new pixel architecture that enables Privacy Display has silently nerfed Samsung's famous anti-reflective coating — both Mrwhosetheboss and SuperSaf confirmed the S26 Ultra reflects more than the S25 Ultra even with Privacy Display switched off.
Most Galaxy AI features — Now Brief, Now Nudge, Photo Assist, agentic automation — are still slow, unreliable or duplicate existing Google and rival-phone features, per Ars Technica, 9to5Mac, The Verge and Wired.

Battery & Charging

Samsung Galaxy S26+

The 4,900 mAh battery pairs with 45W wired charging (unchanged) and 20W Qi2 wireless charging (up from 15W). A modest wireless charging improvement, but no increase in wired speed or battery capacity.

Qi2 wireless charging at 20W is a nice bump from 15W, and confirms Qi2 adoption across the S26 lineup (except the base S26)
45W wired charging is unchanged from the S25+ — Samsung reserves its 60W upgrade for the Ultra only

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The 5,000 mAh cell is unchanged for the sixth year in a row, but the efficient new chip + display extend real-world endurance a little further — Engadget measured 30h 3min of video playback, Mrwhosetheboss got through a 14+ hour battery test, while Trusted Reviews couldn't make it through a single heavy day at MWC. Wired charging jumps to 60W (0-75% in 30 minutes) and wireless to 25W via Qi 2.2, but there are still no built-in magnets.

Local video rundown lasted 30 hours 3 minutes, only about half an hour longer than the S25 Ultra — but still beaten by the OnePlus 15 and 15R.
Days with 5-7 hours of screen time and heavy cellular use leave the Ultra with at least 10-20% in the tank at bedtime — plenty for most users.
At MWC using the phone for photos, maps and messaging, the S26 Ultra never once made it through a full day without a top-up from a power bank.
5,000 mAh isn't 'flagship' anymore — even Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max now has a bigger battery, and Samsung sells dirt-cheap phones with larger cells.
It's disappointing that Samsung has yet to explore silicon-carbon batteries unlike its Chinese peers — happiness with day-long battery life doesn't change the hardware gap.
Wired charging is now 60W (up from 45W) — delivering 50% in 19 minutes, 75% in 30 minutes, full charge in 53 minutes — plus 25W wireless via Qi 2.2.
Samsung still skips internal magnets like those in Apple and Google devices — magnetic accessories interfere with the S Pen, but it would be nice to have the option while the pen is in its silo.
Despite being rated at 60W, the S26 Ultra doesn't ship with a charging brick in the box — just a USB-C cable.
Despite the unchanged battery size, the more efficient chip and display meant the S26 Ultra beat last year's Samsung, beat the iPhone and beat Xiaomi's top-end device while staying cool in thermals.
Samsung's excuse for skipping Qi2 magnets — 'people use cases' — is transparent: if 98% of buyers use a case, just include a magnetic case in the box.