Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung announced S25 Ultra on 22 January 2025 and S26 Ultra on 26 February 2026, and the first change you’d notice is the frame. S26 Ultra swaps titanium for Armor Aluminum and comes out thinner and slightly lighter, 7.9mm and 214 grams against 8.2mm and 218 grams, while growing a fraction taller and wider.

S26 Ultra and S25 Ultra side by side

Spec	Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Announced	26 February 2026	22 January 2025
Body	163.6 × 78.1 × 7.9mm, 214 g, Armor Aluminum	162.8 × 77.6 × 8.2mm, 218 g, titanium
Screen	6.9-inch QHD+ (6.7-inch with rounded corners), 1–120Hz	6.9-inch QHD+ (6.8-inch with rounded corners), 1–120Hz
Peak brightness	2600 nits	Not published
Privacy Display	Yes, built in	No
Main camera	200MP, F1.4	200MP, F1.7, OIS, 85°
5x telephoto	50MP, F2.9	50MP, F3.4, 22°
Other cameras	50MP ultrawide, F1.9; 10-megapixel 3x telephoto, F2.4; 12-megapixel front, F2.2	Same
Video recording	8K at 30 fps; 4K at 120 fps; APV codec	10-bit HDR by default; 8K and APV not published
Chip	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy	Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
RAM	12GB with 256GB or 512GB; 16GB with 1TB	12GB with 256GB, 512GB or 1TB
Battery	5,000mAh typical; 4,855mAh rated	Same
Video playback	Up to 31 hours	Same, per Samsung’s S26 Ultra FAQ
Wired charging	About 75% in 30 minutes, 60W adapter	About 65% in 30 minutes, 45W adapter
Wireless charging	Super Fast Wireless Charging, up to 25W	Fast Wireless Charging 2.0; wattage not published
Bluetooth and UWB	Bluetooth 6.0; UWB	Bluetooth 5.4; UWB not published
Software at launch	Android 16, One UI 8.5	Android 15, One UI 7
S Pen	Built in	Named in Samsung’s water-resistance and materials notes
US launch price	$1,299.99 (256GB)	$1,299.99 (256GB)

Privacy Display is the new feature

Privacy Display is the headline addition, and S25 Ultra has nothing like it. Samsung describes it as built into S26 Ultra’s screen: it limits what the panel shows at an angle, pixel by pixel, so the person in the next seat struggles to read your messages or your banking app. You can turn it on when you need it, or set it to switch on by itself whenever you enter a PIN. Samsung calls it a first.

Same cameras, wider apertures

The lineup hasn’t changed: a 200-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide at F1.9, a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto at F2.4, a 50-megapixel 5x telephoto and a 12-megapixel front camera at F2.2. What changed is the aperture on two of them. The main camera opens from F1.7 to F1.4 and the 5x telephoto from F3.4 to F2.9. A lower f-number means a wider opening and more light on the sensor, which counts most indoors and at night.

Samsung lists 2x and 10x optical-quality zoom for S26 Ultra, and up to 100x Space Zoom in the US. Video goes up to 8K at 30 fps and 4K at 120 fps, and Samsung says S26 Ultra is the first Galaxy with the APV codec. For S25 Ultra, Samsung highlights 10-bit HDR recording as the default.

Same battery, faster charging

The battery is the number people expect to jump, and it didn’t. Both are 5,000mAh typical and 4,855mAh rated, measured under the IEC 61960 standard Samsung cites. Samsung’s S26 Ultra FAQ rates it for up to 31 hours of video and says S25 Ultra matches that, though S25 Ultra’s own 2025 specs didn’t give a playback figure. If more battery life is your reason to upgrade, this isn’t the year.

Charging is what improved. With a 60W adapter, S26 Ultra reaches about 75 percent in 30 minutes; S25 Ultra reaches about 65 percent with a 45W adapter. Wireless charging goes up to 25W on S26 Ultra, against Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 on S25 Ultra. S26 Ultra can also top up other devices with PowerShare, which may stop once its own battery falls below 30 percent. Samsung ran its battery tests on LTE and 5G Sub-6 networks, not on the mmWave 5G that S26 Ultra also supports.

The screen and the S Pen

Both screens are 6.9-inch QHD+ panels measured as a full rectangle, refreshing anywhere from 1Hz to 120Hz. Counting the rounded corners, S26 Ultra’s is 6.7 inches and S25 Ultra’s 6.8. Only S26 Ultra comes with a brightness rating, 2600 nits peak. Gorilla Armor 2 isn’t new: S25 Ultra already had it. Both are rated IP68, for up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for 30 minutes. If you wanted something closer to 6.3 inches, neither is it.

S26 Ultra has a built-in S Pen, Samsung confirms. For S25 Ultra, Samsung mentions the pen in its water-resistance and recycled-materials notes rather than as a feature, so if you’re buying one secondhand, make sure the pen comes with it.

Chip, memory and software

S26 Ultra moves from Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy to Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. Samsung says it redesigned the vapor chamber that cools the chip, compared with S25 Ultra’s, and it lists ProScaler among S26 Ultra’s features. Both are Samsung’s claims, not measurements.

S25 Ultra has 12GB of RAM at every storage size. S26 Ultra keeps 12GB on the 256GB and 512GB models and gives the 1TB model 16GB.

The update promise matches, seven OS upgrades and seven years of security updates, but the starting points don’t: S25 Ultra launched on Android 15 with One UI 7, S26 Ultra on Android 16 with One UI 8.5. Samsung lists Now Nudge and Now Brief among S26 Ultra’s features. Bluetooth moves from 5.4 to 6.0, and for security Samsung describes Knox, Knox Vault and post-quantum cryptography for some checks on S26 Ultra.

Price and colors

Both launched in the US at $1,299.99 with 256GB, before any trade-in. S25 Ultra went on pre-order the day it was announced and on sale on 7 February 2025; S26 Ultra pre-orders opened on 25 February 2026. S25 Ultra is no longer Samsung’s current Ultra, so check what it sells for now before you buy; it may be well under that launch price. A trade-in lowers what you pay but doesn’t change the list price.

S26 Ultra comes in Cobalt Violet, White, Black and Sky Blue, with Pink Gold and Silver Shadow sold online. S25 Ultra came in Titanium Silverblue, Whitesilver, Gray and Black, plus titanium colors sold only online.