Galaxy A57 vs. Galaxy S26 Ultra: Where you really make compromises

Do I really need the Galaxy S26 Ultra at a recommended retail price (RRP) of €1,449, or can I get through the day just as happily with the new Galaxy A57 at an RRP of €479? That is a third of the price. I have both phones here and I’ll tell you honestly where you make compromises with the A57 and where you don’t.

Design

Both have a glass back, glossy on the A57 and matte on the S26 Ultra, plus the typical clean Samsung look. The S26 Ultra weighs 214 g, and the A57 is lighter at 198 g, partly because it has no S Pen. The A57 looks slimmer and also feels that way in the hand. The S26 Ultra is premium in look and feel, and the A57 gets surprisingly close for the price. For me there is no compromise in look and feel.

Battery and charging

Surprisingly even: both have 5,000 mAh.

	Galaxy A57	Galaxy S26 Ultra
Battery	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Wired charging	up to 45 watts	up to 60 watts
Wireless	no	up to 25 watts (Qi2), Reverse Wireless Charging

The run times in my test are surprisingly similar too, even though the S26 Ultra has the more efficient processor. So with the A57 the compromises are only in charging times. For comparison: the iPhone 17e costs almost €200 more than the A57 and has 1,000 mAh less.

Ad: I use the Anker Nano Charger with Smart Display, a 45-watt charger.

Display

	Galaxy A57	Galaxy S26 Ultra
Size	6.7 inches	6.9 inches
Panel	Super AMOLED FHD+, 120 Hz	Dynamic AMOLED 2X, QHD+, 120 Hz
Peak brightness	up to 1,200 nits	up to 2,600 nits
Privacy Display	no	yes

The Privacy Display is the special feature of the year, a built-in privacy screen you can switch on and off. For everyone who, like me, works on the train, in the office or in a café, it is a gain for privacy. If you need that, the A57 has a real gap.

Even so, the A57 display looks really good: rich colors, good contrast, everything runs smoothly. For social media, Netflix and YouTube you hardly notice a difference. Side by side you can see the higher resolution and greater brightness on the S26 Ultra, especially in sunlight. What I didn’t like on the A57 were the asymmetric bezels, thicker at the bottom than at the top. You only notice that at the beginning, and hardly at all in dark mode.

Camera

• S26 Ultra: Quad camera with a 200-megapixel wide-angle, a 50-megapixel ultrawide, a 10-megapixel telephoto and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom. On top of that, 10x zoom in optical quality, which in the end is digital, the Pro Visual Engine and a strong Nightography mode. 12-megapixel selfie camera.
• A57: Triple camera with a 50-megapixel wide-angle with optical image stabilization, a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 5-megapixel macro. No periscope telephoto and no 3x or 5x optical zoom.

This is the most noticeable difference in everyday use. If you photograph concerts, animals in the distance or architecture from afar, the A57 lacks the tool. For wide-angle shots, portraits and normal everyday photos in good lighting, it delivers very good results. The compromises are noticeable at zoom and in night shots.

Processor

This is where the difference is biggest. The S26 Ultra runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, the fastest chip on the smartphone market right now. The NPU is 39% faster than on its predecessor, which matters for AI. The A57 uses the Exynos 1580, a solid mid-range chip. Apps open quickly, multitasking works, scrolling is smooth. But if you game a lot, edit 4K videos directly on the device or push the AI features with on-device processing to the limit, you will notice a clear difference. In demanding games or under sustained load, the Exynos 1580 starts to throttle earlier. For normal everyday scenarios it is absolutely enough.

AI and updates

The S26 Ultra has the full Galaxy AI package: live translation during calls, AI-assisted call screening, the Audio Eraser, which now also works in apps like YouTube and Netflix, the Super Steady mode for videos, a photo assistant with Super Prompting in the Gallery, notes AI, AI summaries in the browser, image generation in Creative Studio, AI categorization of screenshots and Gemini. On top of that comes the Privacy Display as an AI-supported hardware feature.

On the A57 the package is called Awesome Intelligence: Circle to Search, Object Eraser, filters, automatic cropping, best face in the camera app, Gemini as well as browser summaries and translation. The AI package is much slimmer.

When it comes to updates, there is no compromise: both get six years of OS and six years of security updates.

Verdict: Not everyone needs the best

My credo is: Not everyone needs the best, some people need the right one. At an RRP of €479, the Galaxy A57 is a surprisingly good smartphone. Hardly any or no compromises compared to the S26 Ultra when it comes to:

• battery life
• general everyday performance
• display quality for normal use
• design and feel
• update guarantee

You should go for the S26 Ultra if you really need or want the following: a demanding camera with impressive zoom and strong night shots, the best processor performance for extremely demanding tasks, wireless charging, the Galaxy AI package and the Privacy Display.