Galaxy S25 Ultra vs S26 Ultra including camera comparison: is it worth it?

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is here, and as every year, people wonder whether it’s worth it or whether to safely go for the S25 Ultra or simply keep it. The S25 Ultra is now available for less. The S26 Ultra has a recommended retail price (RRP) of €1,449 in the smallest variant with 256 GB.

Design

The S26 Ultra now has nicely rounded corners. At 7.9 mm, it has become 0.3 mm thinner and 4 g lighter than the S25 Ultra. For that, Samsung changed the material: Instead of titanium, there is only aluminum everywhere now. The feel is as premium as ever.

You can see the thinner body in the narrower edge around the S Pen slot, which has moved further toward the edge. The S Pen is also narrower and feels a bit spindlier. You now have to check which way around you insert it, because the cap is rounded on one side. The wrong way around, it sticks out a little and still sits firmly, so you won’t lose it, it just doesn’t look good. The S Pen still has no Bluetooth, but it has a soft tip, which I find extremely pleasant for writing, much better than any plastic tip.

Because the body is slimmer, there is a small camera bump like on the Z Fold 7. As a result, the S26 Ultra wobbles like crazy on a table. It wasn’t as pronounced on the S25 Ultra. The display glass is now Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, the most robust one currently on the market. Build quality and looks are absolute high-end.

Ad: The design shows off nicely with the Q3 VegSkin cases from TORRAS.

Privacy Display

The S26 Ultra brings the new Privacy Display, a software-based privacy screen. When it’s on, nobody can look at your display from the side anymore. You set it in two levels: slightly dimmed from the side, or with maximum protection, in which case it is completely dark from the side. You notice a slight shading, even from the front. With a stuck-on privacy screen protector, this effect is much stronger and permanent. The slight shading doesn’t bother me, because I can switch the protection off again.

You can also set it so that only pop-up notifications or password entry are blacked out. This feature is available in a display glass for the first time. I find it an absolute game changer, because nosy seatmates on trains and planes have always annoyed me. I’m sure we’ll soon see this from other manufacturers too.

Camera: S25 Ultra vs S26 Ultra

There were no changes to the camera hardware, which disappointed many. Because of the new processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, the image quality is still supposed to have improved. Side by side, you see slight improvements. They aren’t so dramatic that I would switch from the S25 Ultra to the S26 Ultra just for the camera.

Battery and charging

The battery also disappointingly gets no improvement in capacity: still 5,000 mAh. I find that bold when you look at the Chinese competition, which easily fits one to 2,000 mAh more. The charging speed was increased.

	Galaxy S25 Ultra	Galaxy S26 Ultra
Battery	5,000 mAh	5,000 mAh
Wired charging	45 watts	60 watts
Wireless (Qi2)	15 watts	25 watts

There is still no magnet for Qi2, MagSafe or Pixelsnap. I find that more than regrettable. Apparently making the device lighter and thinner was more important.

AI and Now Nudge

This year Samsung puts a big focus on AI. The photo assistant can be controlled by prompt. You can add or remove something, change the background or even my outfit. Super impressive.

My highlight is called Now Nudge. It finally makes AI on the smartphone proactive: The AI gives context-based information and suggestions about what you are doing right now. If someone asks me in WhatsApp whether we’re going out to eat tomorrow at 6 p.m., a pop-up appears above the keyboard saying that, according to my calendar, I have no time tomorrow at 6 p.m., but I do the day after. Because it is a learning AI, you first have to use the smartphone and feed it data so that it works in an ever more personal way. Because a lot of personal information is processed, I think it’s important that you can set Now Nudge to process the data exclusively locally on the device.

Whether the new AI features will also come to older devices later was unclear at the time of the video. I suspect that Now Nudge will stay exclusive to the S26 series and that other features like the image assistant might be rolled out to older models. That is only a guess, though.

Verdict: S25 Ultra or S26 Ultra?

• You have a Galaxy S25 Ultra: I wouldn’t necessarily upgrade, unless you are into the Privacy Display and the new AI features like I am and want them right away.
• You have an older model, such as an S23 Ultra: Then I would go straight for the S26 Ultra. The more powerful processor is better positioned for the next few years, and you now get seven years of security and OS updates.