The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is officially here, with the Korean tech giant introducing the world to three new flagship phones via a new Galaxy Unpacked presentation. The star of the show is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the premium option of the S26 trio. According to Samsung, it boasts a pretty substantial performance upgrade compared to its S25 Ultra predecessor, equating to a GPU performance boost of 24% and a 19% boost to CPU performance.
Admittedly, these details don't come as a massive surprise, as the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra packs Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. That's the same processor as the REDMAGIC 11 Pro, the current top pick from our guide to the best gaming phones, which I know is capable of mobile gaming magic, as I reviewed it myself. Simply put, the 8 Elite Gen 5 is one of, if not the, most powerful chips on the market right now, so that's a good sign if you use your phone to play demanding mobile games like Genshin Impact or Where the Winds Meet.
Not only does the S26 Ultra offer a performance upgrade compared to last year's model, but it also has a bigger vapor chamber, which, according to Samsung, offers "21% greater thermal performance." Considering we were already pretty impressed with the cooling tech in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, this improvement makes the new flagship an even more tempting proposition.
Outside of its gaming capabilities, the S26 Ultra also features a new security option, Privacy Display, which limits what those around you can see on your screen without obscuring anything from your own perspective. It's also picked up a charging speed boost, going from 45W to 60W wired charging, so you can juice from flat to full in well under an hour. Much of the rest of the specs are the same or very similar compared to last year's model, including the phone's 6.9-inch AMOLED display, 5,000 mAh battery, and triple camera setup.
Like the rest of the S26 series, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is now available for preorder before its official release on March 11. In terms of pricing, the Ultra model starts at $1,299.99, which is the same cost as last year's S25 Ultra. As ever, we'll be keen to get our hands on the phone as soon as possible to see if it's as impressive in terms of real use as it is on paper.