Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: Is it worth it?

TL;DR

✨ The Samsung S26 Ultra is shaping up to be the brand's most powerful and performance-forward phone yet, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and a plethora of onboard AI features designed to make life easier. Not to mention, its camera refinements and pretty impressive display make it an attractive option. However, if you’re not upgrading from an older model, the jump is admittedly not going to feel all that dramatic.

Why can you trust this review?

One of the worst feelings to experience is regret, especially when it comes to your tech purchases. This is something we understand at Back Market. That’s why we put together these reviews based on our team’s real-world experience with refurbishment and all things tech.

As an authority in the tech space with a reputation for excellence, we know what we’re talking about when we discuss new phones and features. Based on years of experience and refurbished market insights derived from daily device evaluation, our reviews are trustworthy. We’re an independent, non-brand-funded company that takes immense pride in our sustainability positioning in the market, so our goal is simply to make tech accessible for you.

What Are The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Pros And Cons?

✨ The S26 Ultra excels at raw performance, power, and photography, but the upgrade only makes sense if you're coming from a much older device.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the best phones releasing in 2026, but just as there are many pros, there are also a few cons. Let’s have a look at the highlights and lowlights of the phone below:

What Are The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Specs?

✨Overall, these specs show that the Galaxy S26 Ultra remains a powerful flagship with premium hardware, even if most of the upgrades focus on refinement rather than reinvention.

Before you get into the weeds with a nitty-gritty breakdown, it's crucial to look at an overview of its specs. With this in mind, here’s a look at what to expect with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra:

What Are The Features And Benefits Of The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra?

For some, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the most anticipated release of the year, but does its features and benefits really warrant the astronomical amount of attention the phone is receiving? For some, yes, and for others… no. Here’s what you need to know so you can decide for yourself.

Packed with AI features you’ll truly want to use

✨ The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has AI features galore, and Now Nudge, Circle to Search, Photo Assist, and generative AI tools are the most interesting.

Tech with AI features is all the rage right now, but often those features aren’t things normal people use in their day-to-day lives. Additionally, devices that feature them don’t even warrant the high price point for many people, and this is the thought process for some regarding the Samsung S26 Ultra.

In fact, one Redditor said:

“It has really cool features and technology, but the price is crazy…1450€ (in Germany) is way more than I would be willing to spend on a base phone right now! Even if it‘s their flagship model.”

Be that as it may, the Ultra has some pretty impressive AI features that just might be worth writing home about.

For example, this phone features generative AI tools like Samsung Galaxy AI, Bixby, Perplexity, and, of course, Google Gemini. It's believed that each of these has a separate role, but admittedly, there may be some overlap. Despite this, what’s pretty cool is that these automated app actions let you leverage Gen AI, like Gemini, to book an Uber or get food delivered using just your voice. Neat, right?

The Ultra is also jam-packed with new AI features, but the one that stands out is Now Nudge. The Now Nudge feature offers you suggestions based on the context of your conversations. It’s quite clever. For instance, if you’re messaging someone about making plans to catch up, you’ll get a suggestion to pull up your calendar right in the Messages app.

Another pretty impressive AI feature is Circle to Search, which has received a significant upgrade with the S26 Ultra. This feature can now recognize multiple objects at once. This can be incredibly useful when you want to search for multiple things at once, like all the elements of an outfit.

You may also enjoy the new Photo Assist feature that lets you edit your images on the fly, and the Audio Erase filter, which removes distracting background noise from your videos.

A breakthrough display

✨ The display, although largely unchanged, does offer the new nifty Privacy Display feature that some will find incredibly useful. But, not everyone will find it necessary.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display has been left mostly unchanged. It is still a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen offering up to 3,120 x 1440 QHD+ resolution. It also still offers the same brightness and can easily transition from a 1Hz sleep screen to a 120Hz motion screen. What is arguably revolutionary, however, is its Privacy Display feature, which has no equivalent (at least not yet) on any other modern smartphone.

When placed in standard mode, these pixels provide 180-degree views of the S26 Ultra screen. It's also possible to hide only a portion of the screen, such as passwords, pin entry, and pop-ups, and you can enable this display feature on a per-app basis. This means that the apps you’re using, whether it be Instagram or TikTok, will only be visible to you.

However, for some like this Redditor, the privacy screen isn’t that great and doesn’t warrant an upgrade:

“I'm on S23U, and despite being a heavy user, as in I'm on my phone most of my day almost every day, this still doesn't feel like enough of an upgrade to warrant getting a new phone. The privacy screen is cool, but I would hardly use it and can probably count on one hand all the times I would have preferred to have it on.”

So, it seems it's up to you whether you like it.

According to PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore, the Privacy Display is “the sleeper hit, and a standout feature in a sea of AI noise.” This feature can seemingly adjust the phone's display so that anyone standing behind, in front of, or to the side of you cannot read it. It can, in theory, do this by innovatively controlling both narrow and wide pixels.

The Snapdragon Elite 8 Gen 5 chip offers powerful performance

✨ The S26 Ultra offers great storage and performs marginally better than its predecessor, with faster performance across GPU, CPU, and NPU, which is important for those who are often on their phones.

It’s no secret that every year, Samsung gets the fastest available Snapdragon software for its flagship smartphone. It's also apparent that the brand can convince Qualcomm to customize the chip every year to squeeze out a few more GHz of speed just for its phones.

Yet, according to Reddit, not everyone is as impressed by this processing power:

“When there's not much to talk about, let's praise the phone for better hand grips, UX, and miraculous software changes that won't change anyone's day-to-day use!”

However, Samsung says the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy is customized to deliver faster GPU, CPU, and NPU performance, enabling it to complete more demanding tasks. For power users like gamers and those who rely on their phones, this is exactly the type of improvement that matters. Another improvement is the new vapor chamber, which delivers cooler performance and allows the phone to better run intensive applications.

It also doesn’t hurt that the phone is backed by 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which can be upgraded to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage if you don’t mind paying a hefty price.

The innovative camera system offers smarter processing

✨ The camera systems on the Galaxy S26 offer improved brightness and better low-light performance for video and images, with nifty gimbal technology extending camera capabilities.

In the last few years, Samsung has fallen short on its camera system, being outpaced by the competition with poor low-light performance, but it seems the brand hopes to change things. The new S26 Ultra offers improved camera optics, including a brighter f/1.4 aperture on the 200MP main camera and an f/2.9 aperture on the 50MP 5x telephoto, helping both sensors pull in more light than before.

In fact, according to one Redditor:

“Even without major hardware changes, image quality shows a noticeable improvement thanks to the new ISP and the new ProVisual Engine, which — combined with Samsung’s updated processors and post-processing software — delivers better image quality, especially in low-light conditions.”

Additionally, the S26 Ultra's camera system offers incredible image processing. That means the S26 Ultra can capture cleaner, brighter shots with less noise in dim restaurants, indoor events, or night scenes, especially when you use the 5x zoom or main camera. It's also handy that the low-light improvements extend to video, so when you use the phone, you should see less noise and brighter footage overall.

And we'd be remiss not to mention the built-in gimbal, which is an amalgamation of software and hardware engineering. This gimbal lets you turn your camera up to 360 degrees, and the best part is that the footage you take will be kept perfectly level.

The battery offers the same size with better optimization

✨ Unfortunately, the Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t seeing a battery size increase, but it does offer faster wired and wireless charging.

If you’ve got your finger on the tech pulse, you know that Chinese phone makers are well and truly pushing the envelope with silicon-carbon batteries in their flagship models. Unfortunately, Samsung is playing it safe with its S26 Ultra, so you may be disappointed that it's only offering a 5,000 mAh Li-ion battery, the same as before.

But don’t be too disappointed too soon, because it's still making the jump from the standard 45W charging seen on the S25 Ultra up to 60W. This means you should be able to juice up your phone faster, reaching about a 75% charge in as little as half an hour. It’s also receiving an upgrade to wireless charging, going from 15W to 25W. Battery life also looks strong in real-world use, with some early reviewers reporting close to 9 hours of screen-on time, with plenty of charge left by the end of the day.

However, this flagship model won’t feature a Qi2-style magnetic charging experience because Samsung has decided not to include these magnets in the phone itself. Big bummer.

The design and build are premium, but unremarkable

✨ Some might be upset with the switch to aluminum as well as the subdued color options, but the IP68 rating and screen protection are a nice touch for the S26 Ultra.

If you’re eyeing the Galaxy S26 Ultra for its premium build, you won’t be disappointed. There is, however, a change that’s been made that you might not like. This switch is that Samsung has moved away from titanium in favor of aluminum in order to achieve a lighter, thinner design than the S25 Ultra. As you can imagine, many might not love this switch because (and we’re being honest) aluminum isn’t as durable as titanium, so it’s a bit of a downgrade.

Where the brand hasn’t skimped, however, is on its screen protection. As far as we know, the Ultra’s screen will still be protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, and the back by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. With these protections in place, you shouldn’t have to worry about scratches or cracks if you don't drop it too hard.

When it comes to other updates to the design and build, there isn’t much to say. The Ultra’s volume, power, sleep, and Gemini button are all in the same exact spots. The color selection also leaves much to be desired. Some users might not like that the color selection seems a bit subdued, with options including cobalt violet, white, black, and sky blue, along with Samsung-exclusive colors like silver shadow and pink gold. The color lineup is a bit meh, but still pretty.

We’d also like to throw in that this model comes with an S Pen that looks similar to the last S Pen, but is a little thinner. The entire phone is also rated IP68, so it can handle dust and a rain shower, and perhaps worse, which is a good thing if you’re often outdoors.

Why does buying refurbished makes sense?

Buying refurbished makes sense for a few reasons. Firstly, if you buy refurbished, you’re saving money. It’s as simple as that. Refurbished phones are usually more than 30% cheaper on Back Market, and this tech is trustworthy. We professionally test, clean, verify performance, repair when necessary, and grade the cosmetic condition so you can trust you’re getting a device in the best possible condition for its class designation.

Secondly, it's better for the environment if you buy refurbished with a company like us that takes extra steps to support sustainability. When you buy through us, you’re doing your part to help save the planet from having tech end up in landfills.

Thirdly, if you buy a refurbished phone from us instead of from a private seller, you’ll get a 1-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee. This warranty gives you peace of mind, so you can trust the phone is not going to die on you at the most inconvenient moment known to man.

How Can You Buy The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra For Less?

✨ Although Amazon, phone carriers, and Samsung offer savings, it's best to shop refurbished if you truly want bang for your buck in this economy.

For all the penny pinchers out there and those who love a deal, it’s important to learn how to shop for a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and still save a few bucks.

Usually, our best advice is to first consider if you actually need a new phone. If you don’t need one right now, the smarter move would be to wait until you can get your hands on a Verified Refurbished S26 Ultra. These models will be significantly cheaper, but still newish, on marketplaces like Back Market.

Or, if you already own the S25 Ultra and do not care much about Privacy Display or faster charging, this is probably a generation you can skip. On the other hand, if you do need one right this minute, it's usually best to preorder from Samsung directly (if you’re reading this before March 11th, 2026). When you preorder, Samsung usually offers pretty decent discounts and generous extras, such as promo codes like PAYPAL50 for additional savings, free storage upgrades, and trade-in credits.

You could also try to get a deal on the S26 Ultra by bundling it with an Amazon gift card, which could knock off a few hundred dollars. Then there are carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, which advertise large discounts with eligible trade-ins.

The downside is that with the Amazon, carrier, and Samsung route, you’re likely locked into a contract with installment plans, which isn't the case when you buy refurbished.

Why trade in your tech and upgrade smarter?

Considering the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t the cheapest phone out there, you may want to wait a little while before buying. That’s why you should consider trading in your old tech and upgrading smarter.

At Back Market, we offer a simple trade-in program that gives you cash back to use toward a new phone like the S26 Ultra or another model you might have your eye on. All you need to do is answer a few quick questions about your current device to get an instant quote. We base this quote on your model and condition, and if you accept the quote, you can ship it to us for free. After that, we verify the device, and you get paid or receive a credit towards your next purchase on Back Market.

Most find that using this credit toward a refurbished model stacks their savings by significantly lowering the cost of upgrading. Just think of it this way: you’re getting a cheaper phone in excellent condition with a credit that lowers this cost even more, all without needing to sign long-term contracts.

What are the prices for the S-Series Ultras?

If you want to compare pricing across a few of the most popular S-series options, you may find our table below insightful:

*Back Market prices taken at the date of publication — these are subject to change.

Final thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

If you’re upgrading from an S23 Ultra or even an S24, are someone who pushes their phone to its limits, or will actually use the Privacy Display feature, then it makes sense to upgrade. The S26 Ultra will feel like a big step up in terms of speed, screen tech, and even camera processing.

However, if you already have the S25 Ultra, you might find it a little harder to upgrade, considering the phones are similar in many aspects. The S26 Ultra is just marginally better. In this situation, it's only really worth it if you find faster charging and the privacy feature to be must-haves.

Either way, the smartest thing to do is to time your next purchase appropriately. At Back Market, we recommend waiting until S26 Ultra refurbished models are available so you can get this flagship experience for significantly less, along with a return window and warranty coverage. If you can’t wait until then, we also offer other Samsung smartphone models that might fill the gap until you’re sure of your next big phone upgrade.