Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Sony Xperia 1 VII

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung

8.3

Great

Sony Xperia 1 VII

Sony

7.5

Very Good

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.

Pros & Cons

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.

Detailed Comparison

Performance

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy is used worldwide on the Ultra (unlike the base S26 and S26+, which split between Snapdragon and Exynos 2600 by region). Multi-core Geekbench numbers hit 10,713–11,240, with 3DMark stability at 67.6% — a substantial improvement on the S25 Ultra's 58.4%. Sustained gaming improved too thanks to a larger vapor chamber, though Ars Technica still measured about 40% GPU drop under max stress.

Benchmark scores are the highest seen on a smartphone, closely matching the OnePlus 15 that runs the same chip — gameplay is smooth even at max settings in Genshin Impact.
In Geekbench 6 the S26 Ultra hit a multi-core score of 11,240 (up from 9,828 on the S25 Ultra) and a GPU score of 25,403 (up from 19,863) — essentially as fast as an Android phone can get in 2026.
3DMark Wild Life stability hits 67.6% over a 20-minute benchmark — up from the S25 Ultra's 58.4% and beating the Honor Magic 8 Pro (55.4%).
Even under maximum stress the Ultra sheds about 40% of its graphical performance — still faster in games than Google's Pixel phones, but a big chunk to lose.
Opening apps is lightning-quick and the ample RAM easily keeps heavy apps and games in memory — the S26 Ultra is blazing fast all the time, though it damn well better be for $1,300.

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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.

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.
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.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The sensors are unchanged from the S25 Ultra (200 MP main, 50 MP ultrawide, 10 MP 3x telephoto, 50 MP 5x telephoto), but the main gets a wider f/1.4 aperture (up from f/1.7) and the 5x telephoto widens to f/2.9 (from f/3.4). Low-light improves noticeably, and Horizon Lock video stabilization is a new headline feature. The 3x 10 MP sensor is aging and rivals from Oppo, Xiaomi and Honor now pull clearly ahead on absolute image quality.

Both the main 200 MP and 5x telephoto get brighter lenses (f/1.7 → f/1.4 and f/3.4 → f/2.9) — a welcome update that especially helps low-light photography.
The S26 Ultra actually beats the Pixel 10 Pro on noise in low-light shots, and even manages to expose a dim Grogu-doll scene better than Google's phone.
Versus the Pixel 10 Pro, Google still maintains faster shutter speeds in 2026, though Samsung's wider aperture helps it keep up with Apple on motion.
Horizon Lock / Super Steady Video automatically corrects up to 360 degrees of rotation, producing dramatically stable footage even when you twist and shake the phone — though it needs plenty of light.
The 10 MP 3x telephoto uses a comparatively smaller sensor and is noticeably weaker than the other lenses — shots in the 3-5x range don't have the same punch.
The core camera setup is starting to feel dated next to the Oppo Find X9 Pro (200 MP zoom, 1/1.56" sensor) and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra (1-inch main sensor) — Samsung's mature processing is the only thing keeping it competitive.
Side-by-side with a Xiaomi 17 Ultra, the Xiaomi has more depth, better facial detail, and less oversharpening — Samsung is falling behind on absolute camera quality.
The 5x telephoto uses a new periscope design with lenses on top of the prism instead of behind it, making the module smaller and the bokeh more pleasant — but extending the minimum focus distance to about 52 cm.
The base S26 ships with essentially the same camera system Samsung has been using since 2023 — four generations, same sensors, just some sprinkled AI on top.
The base S26 shot of a perfect gym photo looks balanced on its own, but next to the Xiaomi 17 Ultra it's obvious what Samsung's oversharpening is replacing — real detail on the face.
Shots from the main sensor are noticeably brighter in low light and processing is sharper with better motion than last year — it's 'completely acceptable, but Samsung is due for some real hardware improvements.'

Sony Xperia 1 VII

The triple camera with real-time Eye AF, 120fps burst, and Cinema Pro mode offers photographer-grade control that no other phone matches.

Real-time Eye AF tracking for humans and animals works flawlessly — borrowed directly from Sony Alpha cameras, it locks on and never lets go
120fps burst shooting captures moments impossible for any other smartphone — sports and action photography is genuinely viable
Cinema Pro mode shoots in 4K 120fps with LOG recording — a tool for serious videographers who need color grading flexibility
Auto mode photo processing noticeably trails Google Pixel and iPhone — casual users who point-and-shoot will get better results from competitors