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It has become almost a tradition for Samsung to launch its top-of-the-line flagship phone first every year. Although the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a little later than usual, it still brings a fresh and exciting prospect to the mobile phone market.

If you follow Samsung, you’ll know that the S26 Ultra debuted a brand-new panel technology feature called Privacy Display, which has the ability to limit viewing angles.

I’ve had my hands on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra for a while now, and while its minor improvements aren’t enough to convince everyone it’s a generational upgrade, it’s undoubtedly a powerful phone for those looking to buy a new flagship. It’s already set its sights on being one of the top choices for best phones of 2026.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: Design

While the Samsung Galaxy S24 series introduced a titanium finish for the frame – a design that was also carried over to the S25 Ultra – Samsung switched to a different approach for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Why? While titanium is technically stronger, aluminum is more “flexible,” which improves durability. Furthermore, the new air-chamber cooling design used in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra also delivers superior heat dissipation.

At first glance, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s screen is almost identical to its predecessor, measuring 6.9 inches diagonally, with the same core resolution and output brightness. It’s an OLED panel with a peak brightness of 2600 nits, supports a dynamic refresh rate of 1-120Hz, and can be displayed at a maximum QHD+ resolution of 1440 x 3120 pixels. It also features ProScaler technology to enhance the display of content.

However, please note that it is by no means the exact same screen as its predecessor. This is thanks to a key hardware upgrade that makes the privacy display feature possible. By employing staggered wide-viewing-angle and narrow-viewing-angle pixels, the system can disable the wide-viewing-angle pixels, thereby significantly narrowing the viewing angle.

Privacy Display is undoubtedly the biggest new feature of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. While it does have some minor drawbacks that need to be weighed down, I think these actually become advantages in real-world personal use cases.

Furthermore, for current Android flagship phones, this screen’s overall performance is outstanding. I’ve been testing the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and comparing it side-by-side with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and found that the former has lower color saturation and higher reflectivity, which makes me feel that Samsung’s screen performance is superior. We cannot ignore the excellence of Samsung’s screen technology, even with the privacy display feature turned off.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: Performance and Battery

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra features a “Galaxy Edition” overclocked variant of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This enhanced version of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra means more powerful performance when needed. This is why the aluminum body and the new vapor chamber are crucial to this design, especially since the battery capacity hasn’t increased this generation.

However, after testing a wide variety of phones in recent months, I was impressed with this phone’s heat dissipation performance. For example, even with the hotspot on, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra didn’t overheat, which is a huge plus for battery life.

This device also performs flawlessly. I ran dozens of apps in the background simultaneously without any lag; and all my games ran smoothly throughout.

However, I found that even with a 5000mAh battery, it can easily handle usage intensity far exceeding moderate—an average of 7 hours of screen use per day, with a battery life of up to 17 hours.

Oh, by the way, it charges faster now, with wired charging up to 60W—a much-needed upgrade that makes charging a little faster.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s rear camera design is drastically different from its predecessor, marking the biggest design change for the model. There’s a reason behind this change: the main camera and 5x telephoto lens now have larger apertures to handle the increased light intake, requiring greater physical depth. This is why the rear camera module protrudes.

Apart from that, the core configuration remains largely unchanged, still featuring a 50MP 5x telephoto lens, a 200MP ultra-high-resolution main camera, and a 3x optical zoom lens somewhere in between. While the 3x zoom lens still has a 10MP resolution, it uses a completely new sensor.

However, I noticed one improvement in the optical performance of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, especially in low-light conditions. Lens flare is clearer and less blurry, and the system now seems to identify highlights more accurately, preventing overexposure. These are minor improvements, but for one of the best cameras available recently, they are certainly a good thing.

The default combination of zoom elements in the camera app is 0.6x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x. However, as you can see from my photos, each zoom level offers ample sharpness, natural colors, and consistency across all cameras, resulting in a cohesive overall look.

The camera on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is undoubtedly a success. It easily handles various shooting needs, from spontaneous shots to low-light environments. In terms of performance, Samsung continues to demonstrate its strong capabilities in areas that users value most.

Furthermore, some video features are quite impressive. For example, the super image stabilization can lock the horizon, keeping the image level no matter how you move, with fantastic results. It also supports high-resolution shooting and even includes professional features such as LOG mode shooting—a major highlight for users with these needs.

There are some minor issues here. For example, while you can zoom well beyond 10x, I found this easily leads to blurred details and increased noise. I also found that flash detection sometimes malfunctions. Furthermore, in low light, the system may not be able to increase the shutter speed promptly when it detects a subject, resulting in blurry images. These are minor issues, but they do exist.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: Summary

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is essentially a refined version of the top Android devices, featuring the impressive world-first “privacy display” feature, which I found quite impressive.

Regarding the camera, looking at the competitors, it’s easy to see that some major domestic brands offer quite competitive camera solutions, which I admit are very attractive. However, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s camera remains a super comprehensive configuration with subtle improvements, and importantly, it provides a balanced experience.

The Android phone market continues to evolve, and Samsung has further solidified its long-standing success in the high-end flagship segment. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra may seem like a minor generational upgrade, but when you take the best and make it even better, it only makes it more appealing.

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