Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: All leaks, specs, and what’s new compared to the S25 Ultra

As the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 make their debut in front of everybody, the eyes are set on the next flagship that Samsung is going to release in January of 2026, the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Leaks are creating an image of a polished, ultra-premium flagship that builds off what made the S25 Ultra a fan favorite, but in some surprising ways. Read further to know about the differences in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra from the S25 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Expected launch date and price in India

It is expected that the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will be released in January 2026 globally (India) in one of the ranges between January 14 and January 25, which coincides with the flagship release plan of Samsung. In India, the base model of the Galaxy S26 Ultra would be available with a price tag of 1,59,990 INR and hence it would be positioned in the ultra-premium segment. Samsung is also supposed to launch the whole Galaxy S26 series alongside the S26 Ultra, with the standard Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and Galaxy S26 Edge, allowing customers a wide array of top features.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Design & display

• Screen: 6.9-inch dynamic LTPO AMOLED, 144Hz refresh rate and thinner screen bezels and a better screen to body ratio than the S25 Ultra.

• Build: Another use of premium materials is the new, more minimalistic design of the rear panel, and the use of a unified camera module. Closer arrangement of the lens of the camera is cleaner without the over-emphasised camera rings of the S25 Ultra.

• S Pen Support: Remains, as post-tests showed user preference to retain the said feature.

What’s changed?

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra will amaze in its looks, being fitted with the astonishing 6.9-inch dynamic LTPO AMOLED display, with a blazing 144Hz refresh rate, and thinner bezel for an increased screen-to-body ratio than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. As an extension of its luxurious status, Samsung provides a more sleek layout in the back panel, which features a more streamlined camera module with the lenses tightly packaged together to reduce the clutter in a typical camera ring design that was characteristic of the S25 Ultra. Support for the S Pen is still present and demonstrates how many users want to have such a reliable accessory. The theme of the changes, in general, is a more engaging display performance and the clean, refined design of the rear cameras that places the Galaxy S26 Ultra on the line of modernisation in terms of its aesthetic value.

Galaxy S26 Ultra: Hardware & performance

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is reportedly going to be the brand-new benchmark of both hardware and performance, driven worldwide by the successor to the current Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, produced on the advanced 3nm node, no Exynos model on the 2026 flagship. Samsung can also launch an optimised version of the chipset reserving its performance notches, which would come along with a highly improved vapor chamber cooling technology to make sure that the chip can handle extreme workloads without heating up. 

The S26 ultras will come in all models consisting of 16GB of RAM, and push the low end of storage up to 256GB, and offer those with heavy demands to extend up to 1TB. The phone will ship with Android v15 and One UI 8 right out of the box and is expected to get up to seven years of software upgrades, ensuring long-term value. This is all powered by a large battery between 5,000 and 5,400mAh, which is assisted by 45W fast wired charging and 15W wireless charging; Samsung made a few changes to improve energy efficiency and daily battery life.

Galaxy S26 Ultra: Camera innovations

The camera hardware is where some of the most significant updates are expected:

• ProVisual Engine: New image processing software engine on complex AI-based low light processing

• Laser Autofocus: Improved, quicker and more precise channelisation on every condition.

• Video: 8K is upgraded to enhanced 8K and AI scene optimisation and better HDR.

What’s changed?

Perhaps the biggest upgrade in the Galaxy S26 Ultra lies in its upgrading the Samsung €œISOCELL sensor with a larger Sony 200MP sensor, with claims that this should bring great improvements to its low light capabilities, colour accuracy and overall image pixelation. There is also a massive increase on the telephoto setup which is now equipped with higher resolution sensors giving more sharper and detailed zoomed-in shots than its predecessor. 

In addition to such hardware progress, Samsung has also launched new software advancements by providing advanced artificial intelligence image processing, which makes photos look more and more natural and impressive directly out of the camera. These combined upgrades make the leap forward in photography capabilities on the Galaxy S26 Ultra an unbroken record of flagship smartphone camera capabilities.

S26 Ultra: Connectivity and features

• 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 for cutting-edge speed

• Fingerprint Scanner: Under-display ultrasonic

• Durability: Gorilla Glass Armor, IP68 rating

Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Differences

Conclusion: Is the S26 Ultra worth the wait?

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is more evolutionary than revolutionary because it follows the same winning formula as the S25 Ultra, but it is improved across the board, particularly in camera equipment, display performance and system performance. The most important is a shift towards a Sony 200MP camera sensor (to improve image quality), increased use of the latest Snapdragon silicon, narrower bezels to create a more radical design, and more RAM as a normal feature.

The S26 Ultra is going to be one of the most enticing flagships of 2026 massive RAM specifications through mixing the most sophisticated Android experience ever and next-generation camera technology by Samsung.

Disclaimer: The information regarding the gadgets/devices listed in the table and article has been sourced from various secondary sources. For detailed product specifications, please refer to the brand sources.