Samsung Galaxy S26 | Photo Credit: Ashwin Rajagopalan

If you’re a tennis buff, you might remember a phase when Roger Federer held the ATP number one ranking for a record 237 weeks in a row. Samsung’s Galaxy S series Ultra flagship might remind you of the Federer era. For a while now, the Ultra has been the Android flagship to beat, further augmented by the integration of the design and productivity features of the Galaxy Note series (particularly the S-Pen) with the Galaxy S22 Ultra back in 2022. Almost ever since, the Ultra has seen mostly incremental upgrades even as Samsung’s Android flagship rivals have been upping their game. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the brand’s latest flagship is still the best Android show in town. And yet there’s a feeling of déjà vu.   

Design 

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra screams premium. It’s one of the most gorgeous Android slabs that keeps getting refined each year. This year, Samsung ditched titanium (just like Apple did with the iPhone 17 Pro models) for an aluminium frame. It makes the S26 Ultra a tad lighter (214 gm) and much nicer to hold thanks to excellent weight management. Samsung’s signature S-Pen is ready on call, tucked away in the left bottom corner of the device. The other welcome design update is the new glass camera island that allows the rear camera module to integrate more seamlessly with the device. 

Camera 

The Ultra has been one of the most formidable mobile shooters on planet Android. But just like Roger Federer’s competitors who began to emerge after his dream run, we’re seeing Chinese flagships challenge Samsung’s camera hegemony with advanced hardware and imaging partnerships. On paper, the S26 Ultra hasn’t made big changes to last year’s S25 Ultra. The rear cam combines a 200MP primary lens with a 50MP ultra-wide lens, a 50MP 5x periscope telephoto and a 10MP 3x telephoto cam. There’s one significant change though; the 200MP lens now comes with a f/1.4 aperture and the telephoto camera features a f/2.9 aperture. The Ultra series has been one of our favourite smartphone cameras in lowlight; this update improves the S26 Ultra’s lowlight performance over its predecessors. 

The S26 Ultra is one of the most fully loaded mobile shooters out there, it aced our tests across lighting scenarios with improved performance in lowlight videos. It may not be the best smartphone camera across scenarios — some of its Chinese rivals have pulled ahead in the zoom photography department, and yet it’s versatility and post image capture AI tools make it a formidable option.  

Display 

Samsung’s much touted Privacy Display with Flex Magic Pixel technology (to limit viewing angles) is the star of the show. It prevents curious onlookers from viewing your screen from the side. It’s a great feature to counter ‘peepers’ in flight cabins and other crowded spots. While privacy screen protectors have been around, this feature allows the S26 Ultra to maintain full display quality. Samsung allows you to turn this off and also increase the privacy with a maximum setting. We like how the privacy display can be activated only for specific apps allowing your friendly neighbours to ‘shoulder surf’ when you feel more social. The Privacy Display is one of the best features of the S26 Ultra, a seamless blend of hardware and software execution. Aside from this new feature, the Ultra’s 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED LTPO 2x display remains one of the best on any smartphone. Colours come alive when you set the screen resolution to the QHD+ mode with excellent visibility even under direct sunlight.  

Performance 

The S26 Ultra is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gen 5 chipset for Galaxy. We checked out the 12GB/256GB variant (the device also comes in 12GB/512GB and 16GB/1TB options); it blazed through our tests consistently clocking above 11300 on our Geekbench (multi-core) benchmark test. Samsung’s One UI 8.5 sits atop Android 16 and adds to the device’s appeal. It offers a heap of customisations and AI tools. While some of the image editing tools are handy, you might not use some of them such as the Now Nudge. It’s 2026, most brands are leaning on AI for their sales pitch however, it remains a work in progress; it’s still not the primary reason that influences buying decisions. Battery life (there’s a 5000 mAh battery under the hood) is solid, and managed over a day of extensive use including camera, video sessions and calls. 

Verdict 

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra remains one of our favourite Android slabs. It fires on all cylinders, it’s a great work + play device with cutting edge hardware and a stellar camera. Aside from the useful privacy display, it’s not a major step up from its predecessors but it’s still the most well-rounded Android flagship that seems to have hit its peak. The big question is, what next? 2027 is not too far away. 

Snapshot

Price: ₹1,39,999 onwards 

Pros: Privacy display, best of breed hardware, camera performance 

Cons: No significant upgrades over its predecessor  

Published on March 18, 2026