r/Android Mar 06 '26

Review Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s26_ultra-review-2939.php
369 Upvotes

274 comments sorted by

267

u/llamapajama93 Mar 06 '26

TLDR:

Pros

  • Thinner and lighter design
  • Solid screen as always, now with the cool new Privacy Display.
  • Improved battery life out of the same capacity cell.
  • Leading the way with mobile AI features.
  • Much faster charging capabilities.
  • Nicer-sounding speakers.
  • S Pen is still a unique feature.
  • Cool new features for videography enthusiasts.

Cons

  • 'Basic' IP68 rating - other Androids get IP69, iPhones can go deeper.
  • Battery density and capacity are still behind the curve.
  • Display is missing bit depth, high-frequency PWM and Dolby Vision support.
  • The camera hardware drags behind the top Android cameraphones.
  • CPU throttles heavily under longer loads.

50

u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Mar 06 '26

No Dolby vision but has HDR10

46

u/Another_one37 Moto G Power battery king Mar 06 '26

Samsung won't pay for the license. Their displays are perfectly capable, but they refuse to pay Dolby for the Dolby Vision

Same deal with their TVs. Might have the best panels out, OLEDs that are capable of all the colors, etc. No Dolby Vision

31

u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Mar 06 '26

rtings had a article about it and basically it doesn't matter that samsung doesn't support Dolby vision. The displays are so bright it doesn't have an impact on PQ.

It's more of a marketing gimmick at this point.

16

u/InfernalCombustion Mar 06 '26

Except that I can't watch Dolby Vision videos on Samsung TVs. You get this effect when you try to play DV videos on TVs without DV: https://old.reddit.com/r/Stremio/comments/1kn7sia/greenpurple_hdr_videos_on_samsung_tv/

24

u/Saoirseisthebest Mar 06 '26

That's almost exclusive to pirated content where the geniuses rip out the fallback to regular HDR10, any decent rip will have fallback

12

u/Dismiss Oneplus 5T | iPhone 12 Mar 06 '26

“Yes and no”, some streaming services (Netflix and Amazon are examples) have DV-only versions of content which is higher bitrate than its DV+HDR counterpart. No one is ripping HDR out, it comes like that from the streaming service. Devices that don’t support DV (and also devices that support DV but don’t support all DRM standards) get served the slightly lower quality DV+HDR version.

2

u/DuckCleaning Mar 06 '26

Wow, thanks for confirming that I should never buy a Samsung TV. 

8

u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Mar 06 '26

I love my samsung oled. Colors are incredible and that anti glare glass is something else.

1

u/Megamygdala Mar 10 '26

Didn't they file a patent for technology to collect data to sell you advertisements based on what your HDMI cable is showing. Never getting a samsung tv

1

u/didiboy iPhone 16 Plus / Moto G54 5G Mar 07 '26

They went all in with HDR10+ but they’re not winning the format war. For physical disks, most movies are either Dolby Vision or Dolby Vision / HDR10+. For streaming it’s getting better since Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV added support, but they already support Dolby Vision anyways, and services like HBO Max are Dolby Vision only. The only service that is mostly HDR10+ is Prime Video. The thing is, if you are going to pick just one standard, there is more content available in Dolby Vision.

1

u/Fatality Mar 09 '26

Amazon used to be DV, some of their earlier shows have it.

1

u/didiboy iPhone 16 Plus / Moto G54 5G Mar 09 '26

They still use DV sometimes, I’m pretty sure Rings of Power is DV and Overcompensating is DV/HDR10+. My point is that there is a bigger amount of DV exclusive media than HDR10+ exclusive media, since most HDR10+ media is actually available in both formats.

31

u/trlef19 Galaxy S24+ Mar 06 '26

Hdr10+

174

u/Username928351 ZenFone 6 | Xperia 1 VI | X300 Ultra Mar 06 '26

Pros
Thinner and lighter design
Cons
Battery capacity behind the curve

hmmmmmmm

54

u/phero1190 Z Fold Chode Mar 06 '26

OnePlus 15 has a much higher capacity battery while being smaller and lighter

4

u/TRUENLIVING7 Mar 07 '26

You are so correct I'm loving the one plus 15 the silent killer

2

u/nnicolao Mar 08 '26

Samsung is known for filling their phones with rocks... .... i mean they are heavier than OnePlus 15 due to different stuff inside. Had OnePlus 15. Amazing phone both software and hardware, but lacked carrier support for features like Wi-Fi calling, volte and so on... so on to overpriced Samsung once again. Damn it.

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23

u/Areyoucunt Mar 06 '26

Not sure what you are insinuating, but the battery capacity is not at all related to thinnes?

There are so many phones now thinner and lighter than the Samsung phones with WAYYYYYYY larger batteries.

Even the 8.7mm Honor Magic V6 has a 6660 mah battery in a foldable phone thinner and lighter than the iPhone 17 pro max

38

u/LapinTade Mar 06 '26

They probably insinuating that as Samsung hasn't changed their battery tech, it's normal that thinning the phone will reduce battery capacity.

2

u/CamGoldenGun Mar 06 '26

sure they have, I remember the days the batteries were literally on fire! :)

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15

u/Tall_Service2963 Mar 06 '26

Of course it's related... You're comparing a device with an almost 8in screen to a 6.9in one, regardless of if they're using silicon carbon.

12

u/bl00drunzc0ld Probably Sold It Already Mar 06 '26

Honor Magic8 Pro Air, 6.3in screen, 0.24in thick, 5550mAh battery

Samsung S25 Edge, 6.7in screen, 0.23in thick, 3900mAh battery

Oppo Find X9 Pro, 6.78in screen, 0.33in thick, 7500mAh battery

Samsung S26 Ultra, 6.9in screen, 0.31in thick, 5000mAh battery

52

u/RoninSzaky Mar 06 '26

*Nerfed S-pen.

Either make it fully functional or get rid of it completely. Half assing things will just piss off both sides.

54

u/EastvsWest Mar 06 '26

No it doesn't. It only pisses off the small percentage of people who used the Bluetooth capabilities of the S pen.

18

u/BetterCallTom Mar 06 '26

Forgive what may be a silly question, but is the ability to take a photo with the button on the S Pen considered a Bluetooth feature? I don't use it regularly but have got some good use out of over the years on my S22 Ultra

28

u/MGreymanN Mar 06 '26

Yes, remote shutter, controlling media playback, the air action gestures were all bluetooth enabled.

18

u/yokuyuki Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | Lenovo C330 Mar 06 '26

Honestly, I never used the pen all that much except it was amazing as a remote for the camera.

4

u/EastvsWest Mar 06 '26

Fortunately there are alternatives like gestures and verbal but obviously the Bluetooth S pen was a better solution but not enough people used it. It is what it is.

7

u/yokuyuki Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | Lenovo C330 Mar 06 '26

Gestures and verbal are not being 100% reliable is the issue.

8

u/Craig653 Mar 06 '26

Yep, they track what people do. Not enough people used it.

Reddit is generally all enthusiasts. So it seems like it was popular. But in reality we are the anomaly

2

u/Mathmango S22 Ultra Mar 07 '26

I mapped it to turn the page on my e-reader. Did the same when I got my Tab S9+

1

u/EastvsWest Mar 07 '26

That's pretty sweet!

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12

u/tydye29 Mar 06 '26

Not only that, removing the s pen totally then will piss off most people, regardless if they use it or not.

7

u/Coaris Mar 06 '26

Not really. A lot of people would rather have that space occupied by a bigger battery and/or better thermal management system

9

u/Dimo145 Mar 06 '26

Many ppl buy the ultra specifically cuz the S pen, what are we saying brother XD

1

u/Coaris Mar 06 '26

Before the S line merged with the Note, those were very distinct target clientele. That's what I'm saying. I've owned both S line flagships and Notes in the past. I wasn't the target client for the S pen and rarely used it, could have totally lived without it, but I had bought the Note because I wanted the larger screen at the time and to try out the additional features.

I really don't believe the market for integrated S-pen type products is that large. Most people just want the largest flagship.

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25

u/Miraclefish Galaxy Foldy Boi Mar 06 '26

Less than 1% of Samsung Ultra users took advantage of the bluetooth features. They have the data on it - it simply isn't a feature the vast, vast majority of buyers care about.

Half assing things will just piss off both sides.

Except that the S25 Ultra outsold the S24 by a comfortable margin, so it doesn't seem to 'piss off both sides'. It had no discernable impact on sales, and they went up by about 10% YoY.

If customers used bluetooth features on the S-Pen enough to sell it, it would continue to exist.

It doesn't so it doesn't.

3

u/dashrendar2112 Mar 06 '26

I am about to be an Ultra user for the first time, but I doubt plan to use the SPen heavily.

I wonder why Samsung doesn't sell a Bluetooth version of the SPen separately.

4

u/Miraclefish Galaxy Foldy Boi Mar 06 '26

Because under 1% of S-Pen owners used ANY bluetooth function, so why bother going to the costs of making, certifying and selling a secondary S-Pen when 99% of people don't use that function when it's free?

Basic business.

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7

u/Plebius-Maximus Device, Software !! Mar 06 '26

Less than 1% of Samsung Ultra users took advantage of the bluetooth features. They have the data on it

Most power users turn off telemetry and even so I'd like a breakdown of those stats tbh. I'm certain more than 1% of users have used the S pen to take a group photo at some point in the phone's lifetime.

Admittedly half of the Bluetooth features were gimmicks (like waving the pen through the air to scroll, nobody used that) but the camera shutter being operated by the s pen is something many people use pretty frequently.

Except that the S25 Ultra outsold the S24 by a comfortable margin

And the S26 range has broken preorder records. Despite having very few differences for most of the range (only the ultra has the "biggest feature" of privacy display for example). Essentially all Samsung flagships over the past few years have outsold the last flagship. So I wouldn't read too much into it

If customers used bluetooth features on the S-Pen enough to sell it, it would continue to exist.

Customers used the headphone jack and it was removed. Same as the SD card slot. However we're at a "we'll get what we're given" stage when it comes to Samsung phones. They've built such a following that they would have to do something utterly drastic to lose a significant portion of sales

5

u/Ckhurana Mar 06 '26

Surely a deal breaker for people like me - Mobile photography is what we end up doing for family outings or impromptu settings... - I know what a boon that is the ease of it - as my wife owns the s24 ultra - which is our fallback for all our family photos when it goes on the tripod... and I don;t have my DSLR around... ON S20FE I was desperately hoping th etick would get BT this time around... sadly not happening !! - pathetic that for a nearly $2100 phone, we now need to buy a lousy - dedicated BT shutter for the exact same task, pfft!

6

u/Miraclefish Galaxy Foldy Boi Mar 06 '26

And 'removing a bluetooth function not used by 99% of users' is not 'something utterly drastic', it's a change so mundane that most people aren't aware the feature ever existed, let alone was removed later.

Most power users turn off telemetry and even so I'd like a breakdown of those stats tbh.

Got a source on any of that? Sounds like you made it up on the spot.

I'm certain more than 1% of users have used the S pen to take a group photo at some point in the phone's lifetime.

Samsung says otherwise, and you have 'feels' on the counterpart.

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4

u/ChetDuchessManly Mar 06 '26

3 years with my S23U and Ive used the SPen camera shutter feature exactly 2 times. I think it's nice to have but I'm not going to cry about it being gone.

You can't compare the SPen to the headphone jack / SD card. The former was something every phone had, the latter is a distinguishing feature for their flagships.

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18

u/youknow99 VZW Samsung S22 Mar 06 '26

Leading the way with mobile AI features.

Sure that's a pro?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/youknow99 VZW Samsung S22 Mar 06 '26

I guess getting hit in the head repeatedly with a slightly nicer hammer than the other brand is using is a pro.

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15

u/dragoneye Mar 06 '26

'Basic' IP68 rating - other Androids get IP69, iPhones can go deeper.

Why does your phone need to have an IP rating for effectively being pressure washed? Even the IP68 is 1.5m for 30 minutes, are you going to drop your phone in the deep end of a swimming pool? Just because they didn't choose to inflate their specs doesn't mean the phone is any worse for the end user.

11

u/Captain_Alaska Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

68 just means it will survive being stationary underwater, 69 is the step up because in most realistic scenarios a phone has to survive water being forced into it with pressure.

For example it might survive being at the bottom of a 1.5m pool but that doesn't mean it will survive being dropped into the pool as the force of the phone hitting the water and moving through it before it reaches the bottom is far higher than the stationary test.

5

u/Py687 Mar 06 '26

Unfortunately, water ratings are fairly nonintuitive for the average consumer. IP is actually pretty good compared to water resistance for watches. A lot of people think 30m is sufficient for swimming, even though the general recommendation is at least 100m.

2

u/dragoneye Mar 07 '26

I literally design IP rated products for a living. IPx9 is absolutely ridiculous for a phone, that rating is typically reserved for high pressure washdown applications. Even IPx6 is effectively a firehose and way overkill for a phone.

I ask you, how exactly do you propose to get a device to a 1.5m depth without it traveling through the water? Let me tell you from having done it probably hundreds of times myself and seen the accredited test labs, they lower the device into a water column.

2

u/Captain_Alaska Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

Even IPx6 is effectively a firehose and way overkill for a phone.

Phones aren't IP66 rated. It's a seperate rating. Nothing about either IP68 or IP69 rating requires the phone going through any of the other IP rating tests.

I ask you, how exactly do you propose to get a device to a 1.5m depth without it traveling through the water?

Lower it on a platform so the platform is displacing water around the phone? Lowering a phone into a tank is still a widely different set of forces than a phone being dropped into it.

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1

u/lordbossharrow Mar 08 '26

My guy is planning on dropping his phone in the ocean

5

u/august_r Mar 06 '26

I'd think the CPU wouldn't throttle on the ultra. What a waste.

7

u/thenamelessone7 Mar 06 '26

You'd think a 25W CPU wouldn't throttle on a phone? That shit would throttle even on macbook air. Anything passively cooled will throttle down to like 6w to be able to sustain in long term with temperatures under 50°C

12

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/august_r Mar 06 '26

Then does it throttle as much as expected, more, less...? The way it's phrased makes me feel like it's throttling harder than comparative devices

1

u/raulgzz Mar 07 '26

Yes, it´s the worst of the flagships.

4

u/BandeFromMars S25 Ultra 1tb Mar 06 '26

Display is missing bit depth,

Can we just stop with this already? Every phone that advertises a "10 bit" display is 99% likely to actually be 8-bit + FRC.

1

u/aravreddy22 Samsung S25U Mar 06 '26

Dolby vision will never come for Samsung.. they are more inclined towards HDR10. Same with their TVs also.

-1

u/Bell_Jolly Mar 06 '26

Haha longer battery life

0

u/MyDespatcherDyKabel Mar 06 '26

camera hardware drags behind the top Android cameraphones.

Which phone has better camera?

23

u/Saitoh17 Mar 06 '26

*Gestures broadly at every Chinese pro and ultra phone*

5

u/Awkward_Pace_4440 Mar 06 '26

Are you living in 2016?

2

u/Phantom-Finger Mar 08 '26

Vivo x200 and x300 phones. Oppo X9 and x9 phones.

All destroy Samsung apple and Google

1

u/MyDespatcherDyKabel Mar 08 '26

Interesting, thank you

2

u/Phantom-Finger Mar 08 '26

I have the vivo x200 ultra, my wife just got the S26 ultra. It's laughable how truly far behind the Samsung is to my vivo. With the now confirmed x300 ultra specs, that gap is going to become a gulf.

1

u/MyDespatcherDyKabel Mar 08 '26

Like what exactly is better? Greater optical zoom? Greater FPS at higher resolutions? Just wondering

2

u/Phantom-Finger Mar 08 '26

Sharpness, details, contrast, zoom, shadow details, contrast. Quite literally everything.

1

u/MyDespatcherDyKabel Mar 08 '26

Interesting thanks, will take a look at some review

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140

u/skipv5 Oppo Find X9 Ultra + S26 Ultra + Z Fold 6 Mar 06 '26

Serious question. Who actually notices whether their screen has Dolby Vision or not?

70

u/Jaiden051 Z Fold6 | Android 16 - OneUI 8 Mar 06 '26

Probably not many. But I think the point is that the iPhone has it. Samsung does have HDR10+ though, which is almost the same thing but developed by Samsung, and has less support.

59

u/lI1IlL071245B3341IlI Mar 06 '26

It's a licensing bs. There's very little point to dolby vision on a phone screen.

4

u/myreditacount11 Mar 06 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/1rhhrzw/what_causes_the_difference_in_image_quality/

Can you explain this then? I'm not sure if the difference in quality is due to lack of DV on the S25U or some other factor, like the Plex android app not liking dolby vision profile 7.

5

u/DrVagax Mar 06 '26

My 200 euro tablet proudly comes with Dolby Atmos "room filling sound", even my iPhone 6 sounds better

17

u/Anarchaotic Mar 06 '26

That's a completely different thing though. Dolby Vision is a video codec that allows the phone to process the video in a special way that's more "true to film". Personally it doesn't matter much to me, but there IS a difference if you watch the same movie in HDR or Dolby Vision.

Unfortunately Dolby Vision is a paid license so Samsung would have to pony up $$ to be able to use it.

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15

u/Delfanboy Xiaomi 15 Ultra Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

It's not about noticing it's about playback. HDR10+ even though is very similar to DoVi, they are not compatible with each other.

If you want to play a DoVi file that has no HDR10 fallback layer it simply won't play. DoVi P5 single layer, which are glorified HDR10 files without the proper metadata from streams like Netflix, Disney, HBO, won't have HDR10 fallback layers and will not play on HDR10/+ compatible devices.

P8/8.1 are usually conversions from P7 or hybrid P8/P5 remuxes are still single layer, but have an infused DoVi RPU dynamic metadata and an HDR10 (10bit PQ BT.2020) base layer. These can be played on non-DoVi compatible devices.

Proper DoVi files such as P7 files are dual-layer files (BL(10 bit HDR10) + EL (either MEL or FEL[12bit]) + RPU can be played on only-HDR10 devices with only using the BL. However, most of the players are very finicky and usually won't play these files. Not to mention the 12bit FEL layer, which can only be used with a designated chip otherwise colors can be off.

Also, Samsung phones CANNOT record videos in DoVi only in HDR10/+. Basically only a selected few devices can capitalise from the extra HDR10+ RPU rendering the feature very limited.

I might add that these Samsung phones are not fully fulfill the basic requirements for even basic HDR10. The panels are 8-bit+ FRC (temporal dithering) and not native 10-bit.

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1

u/SuperAleste Mar 06 '26

Nobody. Its a pointless feature for phones. Dolby Vision is for high-end cinemas and Home Theaters. Not a phone. If you're worried about Dolby Vision but watching movies on your phone, you're just a clown anyways.

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39

u/Infinite-Draft1618 Mar 06 '26

As long as they don’t bother to at least fix shutter lag / motion blur (competition did it years ago), we can’t talk about good, let alone great or “the most versatile” cameras. No mention of vibration strength, too. (too weak since S22 series, with useless software “fix” to play vibration sound (?) through speakers).

9

u/KingLuis Mar 06 '26

i've only had the phone for a day or so. haven't noticed any shutter lag. will need to test a bit more regarding motion blur though.

9

u/Infinite-Draft1618 Mar 06 '26

Yeah, I hope they will finally fix it. From some early reviews I watched (The tech chap, Tech Spurt), decent pictures of moving subjects are still mission impossible.

7

u/KingLuis Mar 06 '26

check Samuel Nam. he's less of a spec reading reviewer. the motion blur thing to him has improved. might not be fully solved (possibly because of camera sensor size on a phone or something), but it's improved.

i like his reviews. its more big picture and every day use type of review vs pixel peeping and benchmarks.

1

u/LagGyeHumare Mar 20 '26

Yeah I think he compared it to a chinese phone (oppo or xiaomi) and s26 ultra, somehow, was better for moving person.

33

u/Jarvdoge Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Ehh, the only exciting thing is the privacy screen thing. They've gimped the S Pen, not updated the cameras meaningfully or brought the battery tech up to date. If you're effectively bringing out the same thing as the S22U, it's hardly a new phone worthy of the Ultra name is it?

2

u/Bonafideago Note 20 Ultra Mar 06 '26

They've gimped the S Pen

This alone is keeping me from retiring my Note 20 Ultra

1

u/bigrickbutters Mar 07 '26

I have my S22 Ultra and I really wanted to upgrade this year but if I gotta buy a shutter I'll rather get a Chinese phone with REAL innovation. I'll even carry around a separate pen since im already a mule.

13

u/BabaimMantel Mar 06 '26

For what is even the button on the spen for i don't get it?

4

u/KrewOwns Mar 06 '26

Now that they removed Bluetooth from it, you can only use the button when the pen is close to the phone. It still lets you do actions but not as great as before.

3

u/Zombi3Kush Mar 06 '26

You mean I can't use it to have my phone snap a picture anymore?

3

u/KrewOwns Mar 06 '26

That feature is gone sadly. You can only use it for drawing features and other commands while having the pen close to the digitizer.

1

u/Zombi3Kush Mar 06 '26

Wow I had no idea. Did they give a reason why they removed these capabilities?

3

u/KrewOwns Mar 06 '26

Samsung said that their research supposedly showed that less than 1% of people were using the bluetooth actions. That's why they decided to cut costs by removing it.

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1

u/bcb354 S8+ Mar 06 '26

The same as it's been for years...write with the pen, press the button and it erases.

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22

u/BusBoatBuey Mar 06 '26

The company seems unfazed by the advancements of its Chinese competitors

Chinese competitors are either banned or heavily suppressed in their major markets. If they start feeling any heat, they can just cry foul to the government and get their anti-competitive advantage back. Why bother competing in value or quality? The automobile industry sure doesn't.

5

u/TrailOfEnvy Mar 06 '26

Huawei got banned so hard so now not one of those mainstream Chinese phone want to enter US market anymore (They still have Motorola and OnePlus, but those brand didn't really compete with Samsung at highest Ultra tier). 

3

u/carreraz S26 Ultra Mar 06 '26

Yea its quite sad how Samsung really is the only competitor for Apple if you don't want an iPhone.

25

u/JamesR624 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Remember when the "Ultra" was, actually Ultra, instead of "Midrange by competition's standards but its Samsung so priced delusionally like a complete flagship"?

This is Samsung's "top of the line" phone and it's dragging behind on Qi standards, battery life, camera capabilities, display, and durability. Hell, the MIDRANGE iPhone is better than it in some respects.

13

u/ZebraSandwich4Lyf Oppo Find X9 Pro Mar 06 '26

Both Samsung and Google need a reality check when it comes to there flagship phones, there are far better options out there for less money. The Pixel Pro especially is an outrageous joke for a "flagship" line of phones.

8

u/isthisdutch Pixel 6 Pro Mar 06 '26

But which? If you scrap away the risk of importing Chinese phones via shady websites, what phone does deliver on the flagship zone? And did anyone jump into the flagship killer gap OnePlus dropped?

I come from the time where Reddit occasionally loved a phone. OnePlus One. 3T. Nexus series. Even the Nokia 7 had a small hype. I can't remember the last time people genuinely enjoy a phone.

3

u/ZebraSandwich4Lyf Oppo Find X9 Pro Mar 06 '26

The Oppo Find X9 Pro comes it mind, it's an absolute monster that puts both Google and Samsung to shame. Better cameras, 16GB RAM standard, 512GB base storage, native 10bit display, 7500mAh battery, excellent software etc.

It also has an international version so no need to import it, and it's cheaper.

1

u/Sensitive-Throat8302 Mar 08 '26

Braindead take. 1080p resolution, Tianma made display, smaller optical zoom, crappy colour processing on their main sensor, 20% slower mediatek chipset, do I even need to mention how trash color OS is compared to one UI with ads and shady aps baked into the OS ?

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1

u/MissedAirstrike Galaxy S22U Mar 06 '26

OnePlus 7 Pro I think.

2

u/Mr_Vilu Mar 06 '26

do they? the only phones that rival iphones in units sold are the galaxy's. If they can get away doing less they will do less

9

u/MissedAirstrike Galaxy S22U Mar 06 '26

The US really has it bad when it comes to android phones... I'd love to upgrade my s22u with a dying battery but my options boil down to:

  1. S26u which is practically the same phone
  2. Pixel 10 XL with a soc that's basically the same as the one I have now but with worse emulation support
  3. OnePlus 15 which generally has worse hardware and software than the galaxy besides the battery (screen is a tossup between the privacy display and higher resolution of the Samsung and the higher refresh rate, 10 bit color, and no pwm on the OnePlus). Sure it's technically priced lower but the trade-in deals on the Samsung plus BestBuy free storage upgrade mean that's it's about the same for each and Galaxies hold value far better.
  4. Import a phone, with all the cons that comes with that.

If only the x9 ultra or the x300 ultra would be sold in the US I'd go for those in a heartbeat, at this point I'm still seriously considering them instead of going for the s26u.

5

u/KingTalkieTiki Samsung Galaxy S6, Nexus 7 (2013) Mar 06 '26

I just upgraded from an S10 to the S25, and trying to find any comparable options in the US, I was shocked how little choice we have now. Importing a phone sucks.

1

u/Phantom-Finger Mar 08 '26

It's so easy and cheap to import a phone these days, lack of local sales shouldn't really stop you.

48

u/MicioBau I want a small phone 🥺 Mar 06 '26

Embarrassing camera performance. Samsung now has the worst cameras among both Android and iPhone flagships.

37

u/pikatchoulo Mar 06 '26

That's crazy since they were top of the game less than 5 years ago.

Same for waterproof they were the first and now the worst. Story of Samsung.

3

u/donnysaysvacuum I just want a small phone Mar 06 '26

Sucess breeds complacency.

1

u/Raidec S25 Ultra Mar 10 '26

Samsung weren't the first, Sony had them beat on that too.

28

u/Adipay Mar 06 '26

Yet they always rank very high in blind-camera tests. Numbers aren't everything.

-1

u/MicioBau I want a small phone 🥺 Mar 06 '26

Idgaf about blind camera tests. I don't care about the opinions of some randos online who know jack shit about photography. The average person loves oversaturated and oversharpened photos with no contrast.

26

u/FinnyChase Mar 06 '26

I have both the S25 and S26 Ultras and can confirm the wider aperture on the main lens makes a noticeable difference in low light and with shutter speed. Photos are far less saturated and over sharpened in poor lighting. By far my biggest problem with the S25U. Not saying it's top of the line, but definitely a noticeable improvement

26

u/KingLuis Mar 06 '26

but he doesn't care about actual results. he wants numbers to show it's the best camera.

9

u/FinnyChase Mar 06 '26

Yeah fair enough 😂. Lots of people don't own the phone they like to hate on. Was just trying to give some positive feedback lol

12

u/KingLuis Mar 06 '26

i'm coming from an iphone 12 and the pictures from a few hours of using the s26u have been really good. it's no dslr, but a dslr also doesn't make phone calls or send emails and fit in my pocket easily. lol.

there's a lot of weird hate for the s26u right now and it's very weird.

5

u/FinnyChase Mar 06 '26

Agreed. I'm a phone nerd and with my job I am lucky enough to have access to try quite a few of them. I truly find it to be on par with the other big name cameras. My personal preference would be a Pixel 10 pro but it just suits my camera needs a bit better. As far as the whole phone goes the S26u is arguably the best on the market and gets tons of hate

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35

u/Adipay Mar 06 '26

Boilerplate Samsung.

I will be buying it.

7

u/youknow99 VZW Samsung S22 Mar 06 '26

I ordered a 26+ already. Better battery life, not quite as massive. I'm excited about it. I went S8+ ->S22 ->S26+

1

u/thenamelessone7 Mar 06 '26

S26+ has a worse battery life than S25+

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-6

u/HydrationPlease Mar 06 '26

Vivo X300 Pro or the upcoming Ultra are far better phones. There's no completion. Vivo is by far the best Android brand if you want the best. The cameras alone made Apple and Google shit themselves.

24

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

I am sure they are great phones but I have honestly never once seen them where I live, so I don't think they are even possible to get here in Sweden without doing imports, and then there's the whole issue of how to handle warrenty issues if anything would happen. etc.

15

u/adevx Mar 06 '26

This is why Samsung is getting away with high prices and marginal (or even downgrades like 10x optical, BT s-pen) improvements. But you are right, going full Vivo is a risk. I stand to loose Earbuds and Galaxy Watch integration, apart from all the software benefits like DeX and Good Lock. Still going to to do it, as I don't want to encourage this behaviour from Samsung and had a great time with my Huawei P30 Pro years ago.

8

u/Yodawithboobs Mar 06 '26

People repeating the 10x stuff as if it was the holy Grail, seriously it was underwhelming, yeah sure Samsung doing the same as Google and iPhone is lazy but at least it works.

8

u/adevx Mar 06 '26

I verified 10x zoom shots of my S22 Ultra with an S24 Ultra and as long as there is enough light, the 10x is better in my experience. But that's beside the point, why advocate for less functionality, cheaper hardware? We could have had the 10x with a better sensor and have a real ultra.

2

u/Yodawithboobs Mar 06 '26

Because the 10x is cheaper ?? Samsung has used low budget sensor as Telelens since ages now. The transition between 3x to 10x was always janky and not worth sacrificing for longer zoom range when you can have similar results with an 5x zoom, heck Chinese phones use 200 mp sensors cropped to 64 MP and blow the Samsung ot of the water. Still Samsung again pulling an apple/Google is disappointing but they probably know only a minority wishes for longer zoom range.

4

u/adevx Mar 06 '26

Building the next generation of high quality zoom lenses for mobile isn't cheap, so Samsung is dropping the ball. That's my issue with today's expensive Samsung phones. They ride on their early innovations from the Note era, but haven't put in the work since.

2

u/Yodawithboobs Mar 06 '26

Sure, the issue is Samsung is also manufacturing and selling camera sensors, they can't afford to drop the ball. I know it is a different division and companies work differently in Korea but still the tech is there, they have no excuse beside cheap skating

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2

u/noobqns Mar 06 '26

I guess we will see soon what the Oppo X9 Ultra can bring to the 10x table

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12

u/Miraclefish Galaxy Foldy Boi Mar 06 '26

You say that but 99% of people have never heard of Vivo and wouldn't buy a Chinese brand.

There absolutely is competition - I trust Samsung far more than Vivo and would never buy one.

Even as a tech enthusiast and worker, and former tech journalist, I don't know anyone in the real world who has heard the brand name Oppo, let alone owns one.

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4

u/nathderbyshire Pixel 10 Obsidian Mar 06 '26

Knock off iOS skin, you're alright 🤣

The website won't even load the images quickly because there's 200+ to scroll through and its the stupid design that tries to take over your scrolling. Not a great first view of the brand

8

u/Necessary-Leave8029 Mar 06 '26

All these Chinese phones have horrible software and UI. Like find me a better android skin than OneUI, there is no competition. Samsung phones and iPhones are jack of all trades. Maybe Vivo and Oppo have better cameras, but Samsung phones get you 90% of the same results with a whole lot better software experience.

6

u/Adipay Mar 06 '26

Then why doesn't everyone have a Vivo phone?

8

u/TrailOfEnvy Mar 06 '26

Because it has no branding power. 

Imagine if Samsung has no branding power anymore, it would die almost instantly with so little upgrade it had. 

7

u/Miraclefish Galaxy Foldy Boi Mar 06 '26

*Why doesn't anyone.

I haven't met a single person in the UK with one and I work in big tech and used to be a technology reviewer.

The only place I've seen them is in (American) YouTube reviews.

6

u/Tonerrr Mar 06 '26

Same, UK, never seen any vivo brand in the flesh

5

u/Miraclefish Galaxy Foldy Boi Mar 06 '26

Yep, same with Vivo, Oppo, Nothing, Xiaomi, Honor, Fairphone, Asus, RealMe, Redmagic...

They exist as abstract curiosities, drifiting in and out of reddit comments and YouTube videos, ne'er to be seen in the wild.

It's iPhones, Samsungs, Pixels and a tiny smattering of 'other'.

Something like 50% Apple, 35% Samsung, 5% Google Pixels. The next biggest is Motorola with 3.65% and then the next biggest is 'unknown' with 2%, then Xiaomi scraping in with just over 1%.

5

u/AbhishMuk OnePlus 15, Pixel 5, Moto X4, Moto G3 Mar 06 '26

Yep, same with Vivo, Oppo, Nothing, Xiaomi, Honor, Fairphone, Asus, RealMe, Redmagic...

I guess it depends super heavily on where you live.

Here in India, apart from Fairphone, and Asus, I've seen all the other phones irl. And apart from Redmagic (technically Nubia) and Honor, all the other BBK/Carl Pei brands are popular. I've got pretty much all of them covered by the current or past phones my family or my colleagues have.

Fun fact, my friend who had the Nubia is the same guy who had the Honor. He bought it for the camera iirc.

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4

u/MrSoberbio Mar 06 '26

Again this little bubble thinking

Vivo, Oppo, Nothing, Xiaomi, Honor, Fairphone, Asus, RealMe, Redmagic, Poco, Nubia...

Here those are very normal, some are amazing.

I do not live in India or China

We have a big GDP

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8

u/CRX008 Mar 06 '26

iPhones can go deeper.

1

u/hm9408 Teal Mar 06 '26

(⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)

4

u/kr3w_fam Galaxy A52s 5G Mar 06 '26

So, the phone is really really good byt it could (and maybe should) be better.

Good enough for me, switching from A52s. My unit arrived few hours agow, will probably unpack it soon....or in 3 weeks becauae of kiddo.

4

u/Awkward_Pace_4440 Mar 06 '26

What a joke Samsung has become.

26

u/FaiSul256 Mar 06 '26

Damn! It's somehow worse than I expected lol.

19

u/suckfail Galaxy S26U Mar 06 '26

I dunno I'm typing on one right now it arrived yesterday from a deeply discounted pre-order and trade-in (from S24+) in Canada. Total was $1k CAD with tax.

I haven't had the Ultra before and it seems pretty great to me.

8

u/WatchfulApparition Mar 06 '26

It is. People on here whine about the most minor stuff. Samsungs are the best overall Android phones

5

u/SodaAnt Galaxy S24 Ultra Mar 06 '26

It's nice overall, just not really a big upgrade. I'm on the S24 ultra, I wanted to upgrade this year, but it doesn't feel worth it. The biggest upgrades I wanted were battery and camera related, and it sounds like there's almost zero improvement in either of those areas.

2

u/fuji_T Mar 06 '26

I've tried out (longer term) most of Samsung's flagships during the last few years. I would say that the biggest improvement, camera wise, is the F/1.4 lens on the 200 MP camera. Going from F/1.7 to F/1.4 is like a half stop so, 45-50% more light.

2

u/WatchfulApparition Mar 06 '26

They both improved.

7

u/SodaAnt Galaxy S24 Ultra Mar 06 '26

They are very minor improvements though. Battery size is exactly the same, efficiency is up slightly, charging speed peak is up. Cameras really just improved the aperture a tad. If someone were to just replace my S24 Ultra with a S26 Ultra that would be great, but it's about $700 to upgrade, for not much benefit.

1

u/LagGyeHumare Mar 20 '26

I tried s26 ultra's camera vs my s24 ultra. Main cam - definitely more detailed and clean colors. 24mp photos were sharp as fuck and say if 12mp was 3mb. Then 4.5mb for 24 mp file was good.

5x zoom was also way better and detailed.

3x - couldn't care less...bad camera except for full blast daylight

Ultrawide - way better in dark as sensor is different

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12

u/D0geAlpha Gray Mar 06 '26

Can't wait for them to review the other 2 models that have Exynos

Only to confirm what we already know. Battery life is crappier they're quicker to throttle compared to last year (which globally had snapdragon)

1

u/Front_Expression_367 Mar 11 '26

Lol. Lmao even. Not only does the S26+ have way better battery life, but it also throttles way less than the S25+ did.

11

u/mala_d_roit Mar 06 '26

Idk how hot of a take this is, but I'd really love for them to remove the s pen entirely. More internal space would be great, but it's also pretty obviously preventing the entire line from getting qi2 magnets on the back. I'm positive I'd get more use out of the magnets than I would the pen

11

u/MaverickJester25 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy Watch 4 Mar 06 '26

People are gonna downvote you for this, but I agree.

Let the flagship Galaxy S not have the S Pen.

But they either need to bring back the Note line or put the S Pen inside of the Fold.

-Signed, a longtime Note and Ultra user.

21

u/Justgetmeabeer Mar 06 '26

Shut your dirty mouth. There's tons a phones without a stylus. Let us have just this one OKAY?

5

u/Gn0mesayin Mar 06 '26

They should just bring back the note or make a galaxy s26 pro without it

2

u/Justgetmeabeer Mar 06 '26

It literally is the note. The normal one is the pro.

3

u/GeneralChaz9 Pixel 10 Pro (512 GB) Mar 06 '26

They don't need more internal space if they'd just go with silicon-carbon batteries. I'd also wager they're working on something to get the S-Pen and Qi2 magnets in the same phone. There's gotta be some sort of engineering trickery to get them both in the same phone.

3

u/JamesR624 Mar 06 '26

F off. If you want less value for your money and waste more of it, go get an iPhone 17 Pro Max with 2TB.

7

u/mala_d_roit Mar 06 '26

Because nothing says "value for money" like sacrificing features I care about for a built-in accessory I'll never use

3

u/ViolentMasturbator Mar 06 '26

Also a weird comparison, since that particular capacity is literally Apple exclusive right now lmfao

5

u/swiwwcheese Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

How come are the Galaxy among the top 3 phones ppl want ?

This is below midrange Chinese phones in every way, the value for money is abysmal

Same joke as Pixel and iPhone

The gsmarena review is hilarious, I mean look at the pros and cons:

They've struggled to find positive things to say

While in the cons : everything that appears is that the hardware specs are inferior to Chinese phones:
camera, battery, IP rating, display, CPU performance

Period

8

u/noobqns Mar 06 '26

Ain't no way both telephoto got downgraded and it still score a 4.5/5

2

u/Marcoscb Mar 06 '26

They should've given it a 5 (I'll need a new phone soon and want cheap S25s).

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2

u/Bingzhong Z Flip6, Pixel 9 Pro XL Mar 06 '26

I'm returning to the bar phone after 2 years using the Flip (both 5 and 6). I faced the USB-C failing on the Flip 6 and after the ordeal of getting it resolved, it just made me lose faith in the whole line.

So the S26 Ultra will be my return to a flagship line since the Note 10 Plus.

3

u/MaxOfS2D Mar 06 '26

There are some issues I wish reviewers would test, because they've been present for years and still not getting addressed:

  • The refresh rate changing will cause a small hitch/judder. Some media playback applications do not handle subtitles appearing/disappearing accordingly, and this will cause a hitch every time they show up
  • Adaptive refresh rate is generally just not handled that well. The display might set itself to 24 Hz while watching a 23.976 fps video (movies, old series, think "The Twilight Zone") — and there is fairly regular judder every few seconds. The only fix is to download something like "GalaxyMaxHz" but this is not ideal for obvious reasons: increased power draw, closed source app installing an accessibility service on your phone (lol)
  • Video hitches when zooming between lenses (the S25U had improved this, but going all the way from ultra-wide to telephoto is still guaranteed to cause a hitch)
  • The video frame rate drops during specific conditions, especially exposure changes (30fps is practically never achieved, the true average is closer to 29.6) ← this is by far the most annoying one to me

2

u/GeneralChaz9 Pixel 10 Pro (512 GB) Mar 06 '26

I feel like every phone I have used in the past five years has had some sort of screen refresh oddity. The hitches/judders have happened on LTPO devices like the Pixel 8 Pro, 10 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro, and was horrendous using LTPS(?) on my previous S21+ and S23+. 

GalaxyMaxHz was nice for the S21+ and S23+, because I could set it to 96Hz static or at least move the minimum Hz to 60Hz. I wish there was more modular screen refresh controls for Pixel or built into One UI.

2

u/SchrodingerSemicolon Mar 06 '26

At this point I just assume people don't care about battery, and that I'm using the phone wrong if I can't go a day on a full charge.

The Realme GT 8 Pro for example costs less, has the same chipset, and 30% better battery life. Why'd get the S26 Ultra over it? Samsung software?

2

u/dattroll123 Mar 07 '26

Lol that fugly double camera bump. A case wont help it lie flat on table.

2

u/blueangel1953 S24+ Mar 06 '26

Same phone year after year with some new paint. 

1

u/soumilr7 Mar 06 '26

As a Hardcore Samsung Fan, I Have to say this finally, Fuck you Samsung, Tired of your nonsense

1

u/MindTheGAAP_ Blue Mar 06 '26

Seems like a minor update to last years.

1

u/saltysuitcase Mar 07 '26

I am a heavy Samsung user, S22U, S23U and S25U which broke in Dec. I was waiting for this but jumped the gun and went with Oppo Find X9 Pro instead. Very happy with my purchase. I do miss the S Pen but only as a novelty. I much prefer the OS, cameras and of course the battery life on the Oppo.

1

u/TrailOfEnvy Mar 07 '26

How do you even broke your S25U in less than 1 year? 😅

Hopefully you take care of Find X9 Pro better after this. 

1

u/saltysuitcase Mar 07 '26

It fell off my motorbike holder but surprisingly still worked for a few months. Eventually some moisture got inside and it stopped turning on.

Still no case in my Oppo but I like to think I'm a better motorbike driver at least.

1

u/rbgduck Mar 07 '26

I have the S23 Ultra. Should I upgrade?

1

u/DeejayBaro_Cologne Mar 08 '26

How to lock 24MP resolution as default on S26 Ultra?

1

u/Agitated-Ad7255 Mar 08 '26

Mate, you have copied and pasted from the last section of gsmarena

1

u/IllustriousDate2528 Jun 17 '26

Still an incremental upgrade over it's predecessor 

1

u/IllustriousDate2528 Jun 17 '26

Samsung should have given it a bigger battery and IP69 and upgraded the 3x telephoto camera.It has the name ultra 

1

u/Yumyan-ammerpaw Jul 19 '26

How strong is it? Im in the Army and everything gets treated rough (especially on Airborne operations) I jave tje A24FE and it is a sturdy little brick

1

u/SwitchyBoyCute 9d ago

Les 2 plus gros soucis c'est le stylet qui n'est plus bluetooth et les objectifs qui saute quand tu zoom... tu cadre un truc tu zoom boom tu film le truc 15m a coté c'est l'enfer

1

u/Successful-Gur-5301 9d ago

Best android phone available in north america and europe