Samsung Galaxy Ultra S26

Has Samsung made the ultimate Android phone?

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You might look at the Galaxy S26 Ultra and wonder: “just what has Samsung brought to the party this year?” When it comes to the top Android phones, progress doesn’t happen overnight, but there’s added finesse to the Korean giant’s 2026 flagship, with design nips and tucks, plus minor camera improvements over its S25 Ultra predecessor.

The biggest leap forward for the S26 Ultra is the debut of an all-new panel technology feature, called Privacy Display. Right now, no other phone can offer this, bringing the ability to limit viewing angles to prevent would-be snoopers from seeing what's on your screen. It can be applied per-app or even to popup notifications only.

Otherwise, the S26 Ultra looks very much like its predecessor. After many generations, the S-series has carved out its own iconic look which differs from its key competitors. It’s further built on that this generation, albeit subtly.

The most obvious change is at the rear, with this handset’s camera enclosure now not only more decorative, thanks to an island around its trio of lenses, but even more protrusive. The second part of that equation isn’t such a good thing in terms of practicality, though, meaning considerable ‘desk wobble’ when laid flat on a surface.

Has Samsung done this just for a laugh? No, obviously not. It’s because the wider aperture values of both the main and 5x telephoto lenses demand greater depth – that’s just camera physics. But it means that more light can enter, giving more for the sensors to play with for better results.