Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: is the Ultra worth the extra over the S26 Plus?

The price is the first catch. Samsung lists the 256GB Ultra at $1,399.99 (checked November 1, 2026). That is more than the $1,299 iPhone 18 Pro Max asks, and the S26+ is $1,199.99. Samsung does run sales, so check the live price before you decide.

I haven't used it. Everything below comes from GSMArena's March 6, 2026 review and a few other published tests, and the 7.6 is my opinion of that evidence.

Charging is the real upgrade

This is where Samsung finally caught up. On a 60W USB-PD charger, GSMArena got 51% in 15 minutes, 84% in 30 and a full charge in 43 minutes. The S25 Ultra reached 72% in 30. The iPhone 17 Pro Max hit 65% and the Pixel 10 Pro XL 64%.

Battery capacity didn't change. It's still 5,000 mAh. GSMArena's active-use score rose to 16 h 23 min anyway, which it calls solid and still far behind Chinese and Apple rivals. The iPhone 18 Pro scored 16 h 43 min in the same test, from a smaller cell.

What GSMArena didn't like

The camera, mostly. The 3x lens got a smaller sensor, and the 5x lens went from a periscope design to a regular one with a much longer minimum focus distance. GSMArena's verdict calls the downgrades puzzling, because the S25 Ultra already trailed rival flagships.

Then the chip. GSMArena says the CPU throttles heavily under long loads. Notebookcheck's 3DMark Wild Life stress test, run for its iPhone 18 Pro review, gave the S26 Ultra 51.4% stability against 99.9% for the iPhone. That's a stress test, not a game, but it matches what GSMArena saw.

Smaller complaints:

• The frame is aluminum now, where the S25 Ultra had titanium.
• IP68, where other Android flagships get IP69.
• An 8-bit panel with no Dolby Vision and low-frequency PWM dimming.

Privacy Display has a price

The new screen mode narrows the viewing angle so the person next to you on the train can't read your messages. GSMArena thinks it looks genuinely useful. It also halves peak brightness: in its 75% white test the panel went from 708 nits manual and 1,480 nits auto to 329 and 751 with Privacy Display on. Without it, the 10% patch passed 2,800 nits.

The anti-reflective coating works all the time and I'd call it the better feature.

Ultra or Plus

At list price the Ultra ($1,399.99) costs $200 more than the S26+ ($1,199.99), both 256GB. That is a real gap, so the question is what the $200 buys.

The Plus is, by GSMArena's own verdict, essentially a bigger S26 with a higher price tag, and it calls the phone a difficult one to recommend. The Ultra has a larger display, the S Pen, a 200 MP main camera (200 MP) and a second telephoto lens. The S Pen and the second telephoto are the reasons to pay it. If you wouldn't use either, the S26+ is the better value, and at the Ultra's list price I'd also look at the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

If you care most about the camera, the comparison in Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 18 Pro Max is the one to read. For the wider field, I keep best phones for photos in 2026 up to date. And if the 200 MP figure is the reason you're here, why megapixels do not decide phone camera quality is short and worth a read first.

My call

Buy it if the S Pen matters to you, or if you find it discounted. At $1,399.99 for everyone else, I'd pick the S26+. Weight is 214 g, which is heavy, and software support is 7 years.

The full spec sheet and current price are on the Galaxy S26 Ultra product page.