Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra, S24 Ultra: How the Ultras Stack Up

Samsung unveiled three new S26 phones at the first Galaxy Unpacked event of the year: S26, S26 Plus and uber premium The S26 Ultra. The S26 Ultra continues the company’s tradition of Ultra handsets offering high-end features not found in the rest of its series. And this year, the Ultra’s Privacy Screen a clear standout feature, allowing you to customize how your phone appears to others around you.

Other than that, the other improvements of the S26 Ultra are a little smaller. Yes, it’s now made of aluminum, the screen is a touch larger, a 16GB RAM option is available, the processor is improved and the charging speed is faster, but other features of the S26 Ultra are the same as those of the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra. Even the price remains the same at $1,300.

Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra compares to the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra.

Watch this: First Look at the Galaxy S26 Ultra: Camera, Battery and AI updates

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Design and display

The Galaxy S26 Ultra only has a larger screen compared to the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra. Both the S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra have 6.8-inch AMOLED screens with a resolution of 3,120 x 1,440 pixels, while the new S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 3,120 x 1,440 pixels. All three screens have a variable refresh rate of 1 to 120Hz.

But it’s the pixel-level privacy display that’s most impressive about the S26 Ultra. When activated, the display will always be visible when you’re looking directly at the phone while making it difficult to see what’s on the screen from the side. In addition to allowing you to turn the feature on and off in different apps, you can also make Privacy Display work specifically for notifications while keeping the rest of the screen clearly visible.

The S26 Ultra’s screen uses Gorilla Glass Armor 2, while the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra both use Gorilla Glass Armor. The Gorilla Glass Armor 2 is said to be more durable and drop resistant than its predecessor.

In terms of size, the S26 Ultra is a touch larger but also pales in comparison to its predecessor. CNET Senior Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti describes the new design as feeling thinner and lighter than previous Ultra phones during his tenure. It measures 6.44 by 3.07 by 0.31 inches, while the dimensions of the S25 Ultra are 6.41 by 3.06 by 0.32 inches and the S24 Ultra measures 6.4 by 3.11 by 0.34 inches. Also, the S26 Ultra has an aluminum frame. That’s a departure from the titanium frame found on both the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra.

Cameras

While the S26 Ultra has the best camera hardware of the S26 series, it has the same specs as the same cameras as its predecessors. All three Ultra phones have four cameras: 200-megapixel wide, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto and 50-megapixel 5x telephoto. That said, the S26 Ultra has larger apertures and takes better low-light photos. And they all have a 12-megapixel front-facing camera.

Most of the S26 Ultra’s camera improvements come from the software. There’s a Horizontal Lock feature that will keep the horizon stable while shooting video, selfies can now capture more natural skin tones and screenshots will now be organized by category within the gallery.

Battery, processor and RAM

All three Ultra phones have a 5,000 mAh battery, but the charging speed differs. The S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra have 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, while the new S26 Ultra has 60W wired charging and 25W wireless charging. Like the S25 Ultra, the S26 Ultra does not include magnets but can support magnetic charging accessories when using a self-assembling case.

The processors in Ultra phones are also getting faster and more efficient with each generation. The S24 Ultra has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the S25 Ultra uses Galaxy’s Snapdragon 8 Elite and the S26 Ultra ships with Galaxy’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

While all three Ultra phones come in three storage capacity options — 256GB, 512GB and 1TB — the S26 Ultra is the only one with a 16GB RAM option. (This comes in 512GB and 1TB options.) The S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra only come with 12GB of RAM.

Check out the chart below for a more detailed comparison between the S26 Ultra, S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra.