Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S26 & S26 Plus: Every Difference Explained

Samsung has announced its flagship Galaxy S26 smartphone lineup, with sales starting on March 11. This year, the S26 and S26 Plus received rather modest upgrades compared to their predecessors, while the Ultra’s superiority over the rest of the lineup has grown even stronger. In this article, we’ll cover exactly how the S26 Ultra differs from the S26 and S26 Plus.

A Quick Comparison: S26, S26 Plus, and Ultra

Before diving into the details, here’s a quick look at the key differences between the Galaxy S26/S26 Plus and the S26 Ultra:

Note that at the end of this article, we’ve included a much more comprehensive table comparing even more specs, along with the Galaxy S25 models.

Display Differences: Anti-Spy and Anti-Glare

The Galaxy S26 trio is equipped with the following displays:

• S26 – 6.3″ OLED
• S26 Plus – 6.7″ OLED
• S26 Ultra – 6.9″ OLED + Private Display + Gorilla Armor

The Galaxy S26 Ultra has the largest screen of the trio and features two important additional technologies.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra and S26/S26 Plus share the same color palette and an aluminum frame. There is no titanium frame for the Ultra version in this generation.

Private Display is the first thing you need to know about. This is the standout new feature of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, setting it apart from both the other Galaxy S26 models and the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The idea is to protect your screen from prying eyes to keep your messages or other sensitive data private. When activated, the screen is clearly visible to the user, but anyone trying to look from the side, top, bottom, or from a distance will only see a blurred, dark area.

It’s important to note that this isn’t just a software trick; the mechanism works at the hardware level of the display itself. That’s why the feature isn’t available on the S26, S26 Plus, or older Galaxy phones—they simply don’t have this type of screen.

Previously, you could achieve something similar on smartphones using special privacy screen protectors, but now you don’t need them. This technology is more advanced and built right into the display. Plus, it can be toggled on and off with a double-press of the side button.

The Private Display feature in normal (center) and maximum mode (right). Photo: Mashable.

Note that Private Display isn’t just a single setting, but a whole suite. You can protect the entire screen or specifically target:

• Pop-up notifications
• Messenger chats
• Password entry screens
• PIN entry screens
• Gallery pages

Gorilla Armor glass with an anti-reflective layer is the second unique screen-related feature that sets the S26 Ultra apart from the rest of the lineup.

Corning’s Gorilla Armor is currently found on only three smartphones on the market:

• S24 Ultra – the first version of Gorilla Armor
• S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra – Gorilla Armor 2

This glass is one of the toughest on the market, but the most amazing feature of Gorilla Armor is its extremely strong built-in anti-reflective layer. The point of this tech is eye comfort and excellent screen readability in any lighting conditions, especially under direct sunlight.

No other manufacturer on the market has managed to create such powerful anti-glare without compromising display quality.

Glare reduction in the Galaxy S Ultra flagships (right). Photo: GSMArena.

As a bonus, this tech sometimes saves battery life, since you don’t have to crank up the screen brightness as often to fight the sun and glare.

It seems Samsung has some sort of exclusivity agreement with Corning regarding Gorilla Armor, as two years after its debut, the glass is still only used by Samsung, and only on its Ultra models.

Before the release of the S26 Ultra, rumors circulated that this time the glass would be used on all S26 models, or at least the S26 Plus, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. On the official Samsung website, Gorilla Armor is once again listed as an Ultra exclusive. The other S26 models use Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for screen protection, which lacks the anti-reflective layer.

The S26 Ultra, by the way, also uses Victus 2, but for the back panel. The front is Armor 2.

Left to right: Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26 Plus, and S26.

Main Camera Differences Go Beyond Megapixels

The main camera specs for all three S26 models look like this:

• S26 – 50MP, 1/1.56″, f/1.8
• S26 Plus – 50MP, 1/1.56″, f/1.8
• S26 Ultra – 200MP, 1/1.3″, f/1.4

While in previous generations the Ultra primarily differed from the standard models in resolution and sensor size, now a significantly wider aperture has joined the list of differences.

The S26 Ultra offers the same camera configuration in terms of megapixel count. However, lens speed (aperture) has been noticeably improved.

200MP resolution instead of 50MP is the most obvious difference that catches the eye even of users who aren’t tech-savvy.

Yes, simply having more megapixels won’t fundamentally improve photo or especially video quality. Yet, 200MP is far from just marketing: there are real benefits to such a high-res camera. It just relates more to shooting versatility rather than pure quality (though detail can be higher).

200MP is incredibly useful for cropping, allowing you to cut out a small part of the frame while keeping it sharp. This gives the creator more creative freedom: digital zoom capabilities and portrait photography are vastly improved, and thanks to the super-resolution, the camera can simulate various focal lengths and aspect ratios.

Electronic stabilization is also enhanced, and in low-light situations, the camera can use pixel binning (up to 16-in-1), turning them into very large, light-sensitive pixels.

The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus don’t show major progress in their cameras. The main upgrades from their predecessors are the new processor and 256GB of base storage.

A 1/1.3″ sensor size instead of 1/1.56″ is another major difference between the main camera of the S26 Ultra and the S26/S26 Plus.

To average users, these optical format numbers might seem confusing and, more importantly, not that different. But in reality:

• The surface area of a 1/1.3″ sensor is roughly 44% larger than that of a 1/1.56″ sensor.

And for image quality, this is a huge advantage.

What exactly does that extra area do? First and foremost, it increases light capture, which is critical for evening/night photography. Because of this, photos and videos will have less digital noise (grain). A larger sensor also expands the dynamic range, allowing highlights and shadows to retain much more detail.

Additionally, a larger sensor improves color accuracy, makes details look more natural without a plastic/watercolor effect, and enhances true background blur (bokeh). It also reduces motion blur, speeds up autofocus in the dark, and as a bonus, improves the realism of skin textures.

A relative size comparison of the main camera sensors in the Galaxy S26/S26 Plus and the S26 Ultra.

An f/1.4 aperture instead of f/1.8. Here’s another camera spec that might seem obscure to users, making the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 look minor. In reality:

• An f/1.4 lens captures up to 65% more light than an f/1.8 lens.

It’s worth noting that Ultra models have historically had wider apertures than other Galaxy S phones. But back then, the gap was much smaller: the Ultra offered f/1.7, which only brought in 12% more light than f/1.8.

In 2026, the differences between the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the S26/S26 Plus have become much more noticeable.

Now the Ultra features an f/1.4 aperture. This brings a lot of benefits. Low-light performance improves, noise is reduced, there’s less need for image-softening noise reduction algorithms, and motion blur is significantly reduced when shooting handheld or capturing moving subjects.

Thanks to the wide aperture, it’s easier to get stunning shots in portrait photography, macro photography, and astrophotography. Video can also look more cinematic, and autofocus performs better.

The wider the aperture, the more light hits the sensor.

Anything else? Renowned insider Ice Universe, who has a long track record of accurate predictions, claims that the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s main camera also features upgraded internal lens elements.

Allegedly, a new anti-reflective coating is applied to the lens elements to reduce internal light reflection. The benefits:

• The improved lenses will help eliminate lens flare, ghosting, and artifacts from photos/videos.
• Ideally, photos should become more contrasty, colors a bit cleaner, and blacks will remain truly deep.

The base S26 and S26 Plus likely do not have these upgraded lens elements.

Ultimately, thanks to its sensor, resolution, lens, and coatings, the S26 Ultra’s main camera looks very impressive compared to the standard Galaxy S26 models. However, we shouldn’t overhype it either. Many flagship features, including an even larger sensor, variable aperture, and LOFIC technology, are things Samsung has yet to introduce in future Ultras.

The camera modules of the Galaxy S26 Ultra and S26 Plus. Photo: GSMArena.

How Does the S26 Ultra Beat the S26 in Auxiliary Cameras?

Besides the main camera, the S26 and S26 Plus have a short-range telephoto lens and an ultrawide camera on the back. Meanwhile, the S26 Ultra packs two telephoto lenses (short and long-range zoom), an ultrawide camera, and laser autofocus. Users might mistake the latter for a fifth camera.

In terms of megapixels, the setup looks like this:

• S26 – 50MP main + 12MP ultrawide + 10MP telephoto
• S26 Plus – 50MP main + 12MP ultrawide + 10MP telephoto
• S26 Ultra – 200MP main + 50MP ultrawide + 10MP telephoto + 50MP long-range telephoto + laser autofocus.

Galaxy S26 Ultra camera specs.

We’ve already covered the main camera differences. The short-range telephoto (3x optical) remains identical across the entire S26 series. So let’s focus on the differences below.

Ultrawide camera. Designed to shoot with a field of view roughly 1.5 times wider than the main camera, allowing you to fit more into the frame.

On the S26 and S26 Plus, its resolution is 12MP, while the Ultra boasts 50MP. The sensor sizes are mostly similar. The main difference is:

• The S26 Ultra’s ultrawide camera has an f/1.9 aperture compared to f/2.2 on the S26 and S26 Plus.
• This allows it to capture 34% more light, which is crucial in low-light environments.

Additionally, the S26 Ultra’s ultrawide supports Dual Pixel PDAF technology. This ensures better and faster autofocus, is great for moving subjects, and inherently enables advanced macro photography.

Long-range telephoto camera. Provides true 5x optical zoom (111mm equivalent) and can push past that with minimal quality loss thanks to its 50MP sensor. The S26 and S26 Plus simply lack this camera, meaning they miss out on truly powerful zoom that could rival the top iPhone Pro models.

The long-range telephoto on the S26 Ultra provides 5x optical zoom and nearly lossless 10x zoom. Samsung also mentions 100x zoom in its marketing, but don’t expect great quality at that level.

For zooming, the S26 and S26 Plus have to rely entirely on a basic 10MP telephoto with a 67mm focal length. It’s fine for 3x zoom and portraits, but not much else.

By the way, Samsung upgraded the S26 Ultra’s long-range telephoto compared to the S25 Ultra: it didn’t get a longer zoom reach, but it received a faster f/2.9 lens instead of f/3.4. This translates to a ~37% increase in light capture, which can yield higher-quality images.

Laser autofocus. Just like Apple is in no rush to bring the LiDAR scanner from the iPhone Pro to its base models, Samsung keeps laser autofocus as an Ultra exclusive.

The S26 and S26 Plus obviously have autofocus, but it’s sensor-based. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has that too, but it comes with a vital addition: laser autofocus. It’s positioned next to the cameras and looks like a fifth rear lens.

Laser autofocus on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Slide from the official presentation.

The “laser” has plenty of advantages:

• Lightning-fast performance at medium and especially close ranges.
• The ability to focus in extremely low light.
• Reduced focus hunting in complex and close-up scenes.
• Accurate focusing on solid-colored surfaces and smooth textures. Standard autofocus struggles to “lock on” here, but the laser handles it effortlessly.
• Rapidly tracking the distance of moving subjects.
• Smooth focus transitions between subjects during video recording.
• Laser AF indirectly improves Portrait mode.

Laser autofocus is also particularly useful for large sensors and fast lenses: without it, they would “hunt” more frequently, taking longer to lock focus.

Is There a Difference in Processors and Battery Life?

While the display and camera differences between the S26 Ultra and the rest of the S26 lineup are quite radical, the gap in performance and battery life shouldn’t be as dramatic. However, a difference does exist.

The big news: in 2026, the Exynos/Snapdragon split is back.

As a reminder, in 2025, Samsung equipped the entire S25 series exclusively with Snapdragon 8 Elite processors. This applied to both the base models and the Ultra. Now, only the S26 Ultra is guaranteed to get the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

But for most parts of the world, the S26 and S26 Plus will ship with Samsung’s own processor—the Exynos 2600.

• Snapdragon-powered S26/S26 Plus – Available in the US, China, and Japan.
• Exynos-powered S26/S26 Plus – The rest of the world, including Europe and other regions.

One of the first tests of the new devices in GeekBench 6 by GSMArena. The Exynos noticeably lags behind.

If you only look at core counts, the Exynos 2600 wins “on paper”—it has a 10-core CPU compared to the 8 cores inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

It was the same story two years ago with the Exynos 2400: it had 10 cores vs. the competitor’s 8. Yet, in real-world benchmarks, the Exynos still lagged behind. According to NanoReview, the performance gap ranged from 6% in AnTuTu to 16% in 3DMark Wild Life. By all accounts, history is repeating itself.

We already know that the prime cores on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 clock in at 4.74 GHz*, and two out of its eight cores can hit that frequency.

In contrast, the Exynos 2600’s top core reaches 3.8 GHz, and only one out of its 10 cores can run at that peak speed. This setup strongly hints that the Exynos 2600 might lag quite a bit in performance. And various early benchmarks confirm this.

Supposedly, the S26 Ultra houses the largest vapor chamber in the series. This helps the processor sustain its peak performance better than the other S26 models.

NanoReview’s database already has preliminary results for Galaxy S26 prototypes in AnTuTu 10. If they are to be believed, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 could be 18-19% faster than the Exynos 2600.

By the way, the new Exynos stands out for its manufacturing process—2nm versus Qualcomm’s 3nm. However, Samsung’s 2nm transistor density is actually very close to TSMC’s 3nm results. So, formally having a “better” 2nm process is unlikely to be a massive advantage for the Exynos 2600.

Another aspect where we are eagerly awaiting early independent tests is battery life. The Galaxy S26 smartphones pack the following batteries:

• Galaxy S26 – 4300 mAh
• Galaxy S26 Plus – 4900 mAh
• Galaxy S26 Ultra – 5000 mAh

Compared to last year, the base model’s battery capacity increased by 300 mAh, but the capacities for the more expensive models remain unchanged.

The difference between the Plus and Ultra is only 100 mAh. This was also true last year. According to GSMArena tests, that extra 100 mAh gave the S25 Ultra 23 bonus minutes of battery life. The S25 Plus lasted 14 hours and 26 minutes in those tests, while the S25 Ultra, despite its larger screen, managed 14 hours and 49 minutes.

Galaxy S26 battery capacities and estimated battery life as listed on Samsung’s website.

On its official website, Samsung claims roughly equal battery life for all three current S26 models. They state each can last up to 31 hours of video playback. This applies even to the base S26.

In other words, according to Samsung, there shouldn’t be any major battery life discrepancies between the trio. But, again, it’s wise to wait for independent reviews.

The Stylus: More Useful Than You Think

In recent years, one of the most prominent features separating the Galaxy S Ultra from all other Galaxy S phones—and honestly, all other Samsung smartphones—has been the built-in S Pen.

As in previous years, the S Pen is housed inside the Galaxy S Ultra.

The S Pen hasn’t fundamentally changed in the S26 Ultra compared to its predecessor, but it remains a very strong selling point for the Ultra.

We want to clarify two important things.

First. A smartphone stylus is about way more than just drawing and taking handwritten notes.

The stylus is more useful than it seems. It makes precision text selection, moving elements, and editing photos or spreadsheets incredibly comfortable—things that are much harder to do with your fingers on a phone screen. It’s also great for signing documents, making annotations, and taking precise screenshots. Plus, the stylus doesn’t block your view of the screen like a finger does, and it keeps your display smudge-free.

Second. You can buy a cheap imitation stylus for almost any smartphone. However, on modern Galaxy S Ultra devices, the stylus is literally housed inside the phone, and more importantly, the screen has a dedicated digitizer layer. You can’t just buy that as an add-on for a regular phone.

The size of the stylus next to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Photo: GSMArena.

As a result, the S Pen is a professional-grade stylus. The input latency is practically zero, accuracy is pinpoint, it supports tilt and pressure sensitivity, and the tip is extremely fine. You simply cannot get these results from cheap imitations.

Keep in mind that the S26 and S26 Plus lack not only the physical stylus but also the digitizer inside the display. That means an S Pen won’t work on them properly, even if you buy one separately.

What Else Separates the S26 Ultra From the Rest of the S26 Lineup?

We’ve covered the displays, main and auxiliary cameras, processors, battery life, and the stylus. But there are a few more differences:

• Storage and RAM. Only the Ultra model offers options for 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. The standard S26 models max out at 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM.
• Wired charging speed. The S26 Ultra now supports 60W charging, the S26 Plus hits 45W, and the S26 is capped at 25W. This means the Ultra will charge its battery the fastest. Though, to be fair, the relationship between wattage and actual charge time is more nuanced than a direct correlation.
• Wireless charging speeds also differ. The S26 Ultra supports 25W, the S26 Plus offers 20W, and the base S26 gives you 15W.
• 4K Slow-mo video. All S26 models can shoot 4K video at 60 FPS, but only the S26 Ultra can record at 4K@120 FPS. This gives you incredibly crisp, super slow-motion footage.

The screen of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Photo: Engadget.

Those are all the differences between the S26 Ultra and the S26/S26 Plus models.

If we compare the Ultra directly to the base S26, there are a couple more wireless tech differences to add. Specifically, only the S26 Plus and S26 Ultra support Bluetooth 6 and UWB. The base S26 lacks UWB and is limited to Bluetooth 5.4.

As a reminder, UWB (Ultra-Wideband) is important for various smart trackers and integrates well with smart car systems.

Bluetooth 6, on the other hand, beats older versions in accuracy, power efficiency, and reduced latency for audio and data transfer.

Final Specs Table and Conclusion

The gap between the Ultra and the rest of the Galaxy S lineup was already significant in previous years, but in 2026, it became even more staggering. The S26 Ultra now rocks an anti-spy display and a main camera with an incredibly fast lens. Conversely, the S26 and S26 Plus took a half-step backward by once again offering the controversial Exynos chip to the majority of buyers.

The biggest advantages of the S26 Ultra over the standard models are its vastly superior rear cameras, the built-in multi-functional stylus, and a massive screen boasting two unique features.

Finally, we’ve put together a massive comparison table** covering the Galaxy S25 and S26 series, including the Ultra models:

A detailed spec comparison between the Galaxy S25 and S26 lineups. Click to enlarge.

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* – As in previous years, Samsung uses overclocked versions of flagship Snapdragon chips in its Galaxy S line. Therefore, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the S26 series hits frequencies up to 4.74 GHz, even though the same chip in most other smartphones peaks at 4.6 GHz.

** – The omission of the titanium frame is not a typo in the table. The S26 Ultra genuinely does not use titanium in its build. Apple made a similar move last year, dropping titanium from the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in favor of standard aluminum. Titanium is very expensive, dissipates heat poorly, and the titanium frame itself doesn’t actually prevent the glass from cracking when dropped.