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Today we've got the first look at the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra with an upgraded chipset, battery, and cameras. It's finally the S phone we've all been waiting for.
So, first up, before we get into the reveal, we've got news that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 that's powering the Galaxy S26 Ultra is going to be using the same 2 plus 6 cluster as its predecessor, but we now have the performance cores running at 4.66 GHz with the Adreno 840 GPU hitting 1.2 GHz. So, we should see some respectable increases in power. And as usual, when it comes to the Snapdragon chip, the S26 Ultra is going to be using the most powerful overclock version. And this time, it's going to be running at 4.74 GHz according to Ice Universe. But this year, we also get a larger vapor chamber as well, which is going to greatly help with the thermals, and it's going to allow Samsung to get the most out of the chipset.
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Now, back to the S26 Ultra. We've got news from Chunvi that we're finally going to be getting an upgrade to the battery capacity. And he states that it's going to be 5,500 mAh up from its predecessor's 5,000. However, some leakers still disagree with this. Now, reliable leaker Ice Universe also advises we're finally going to be getting an upgrade to the fast charging. And while he confirms that it will surpass the 45 watts that we've been stuck with for some time, Chunv has also posted to say it's going to be 65W. And now, Le code has confirmed that it will in fact be 60W fast charging.
We've also got reports that the S26 Edge is going to be replacing the Plus model this year. And not only is it going to be getting a slightly thinner again, but somehow we're also getting a larger battery in the edge as well. Now, something else that's getting bigger is also the display. And Ice Universe advises the S26 Ultra is coming with a 6.89 in display up from last year's 6.86. While it's only 0.03 in larger, it is also going to be integrating COE OLED technology. And this stands for color filter on encapsulation. And put into simple terms, it's not only going to provide better color and clarity, but it should also improve the efficiency for longer battery life. And if that wasn't good enough news for you, we've also got news of more trim down bezels, delivering an improved full screen display.
Now, another upgrade is one I'm always happy to see, and that's with the primary camera. We've got great news that while the S26 Ultra is going to be sticking with a 200 megapixel primary camera, it is in fact going to be a new one over 1.1 in CMOS sensor from Sony. And this is quite an increase from the predecessor's 1 over 1.3 in from the HP2. And again, in simple terms, a larger sensor means more light capture. And this results in better photo and video quality with less noise and of course much better low-light performance.
Now, while there were many reports of an under-display selfie camera, that's now looking very unlikely for the S26 Ultra. Even the Fold lost its under-display camera with its release this year. While it was assumed it was due to better photo quality from a punch-hole camera, there's also an ongoing dispute between Samsung and BOE about the technology used in these under-display cameras. So, it may be that Samsung are playing it safe until this issue is resolved, as they don't want problematic technology in upcoming releases.
Next up, we've got the design revealed by reliable leaker Ice Universe and he's posted this image of the S26 Ultra along with all of the spec confirmations that we covered earlier. And of course, I've used this image to make these renders, including the ones in hand, to give you guys a good look at what the S26 Ultra is going to look like. Now, of course, the main difference is in the rear cameras, where we now have this new module on the left-hand side. And maybe this is there to create a bit more space internally, as Ice Universe also confirms that the other main difference is that the S26 Ultra is going to be slightly thinner, coming in at just 7 mm thick. Now, one thing to mention is we don't know the colors just yet, and these colors here are simply just my guesses of what we could see. And of course, we always get a few standard colors as well as a few bespoke ones for online orders. But for those wanting to know the expected specs, design, and pricing for the whole lineup, we're now going to run through it all. So, hit subscribe and we'll get right into it.
So, first up, we've got the standard Galaxy S26, which is coming with a 6.2 in dynamic AMOLED display with improvements to brightness and color accuracy. We get a 120 Hz display with HDR10 plus and a resolution of 1080x2340, and it's going to be protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 3. We get a 12 megapixel punch-hole camera for the selfies. Then over on the rear, it's a triple camera setup consisting of a wide, an ultra-wide, and a telephoto. But unfortunately, at this time, we don't know the exact sensors being used. It's going to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, and it's coming with 12 GB of RAM and up to 512 gigs of storage, which will be UFS4. It's coming with a 4,000 mAh battery with 25 watt fast charging and 15 watt wireless charging. And it will of course come with 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, and ultra-wideband support. And it's going to be launching with One UI 8 based on Android 16, and it's expected to launch from $800 in January 2026.
Now, next up, we've got the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, which may also be the S26 Edge, and it's coming with a 6.7 in dynamic AMOLED display with improvements to brightness and color accuracy. We get a 120 Hz display with HDR10 Plus, a resolution of 1440 by 3120, and it's protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 3. We get a 12 megapixel punch-hole camera for the selfies. Then over on the rear, it's a dual camera setup consisting of a wide and an ultra-wide, but unfortunately at this time, we don't know the exact sensors being used. Now, it's going to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, and it's coming with 12 gigs of RAM and a choice of 256 or 512 storage, which will be UFS4. And it's coming with a 3,900 mAh battery with 45 watt fast charging, and 15 watt wireless charging. And it will, of course, come with 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, and ultra-wideband support, and it's going to be launching with One UI 8 based on Android 16, and is expected to launch from around $1,000 in January 2026.
Now, finally, we've got the most premium model, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. And the S26 Ultra is coming with a 6.9 in dynamic AMOLED display. And again, we've got improvements to brightness and color accuracy. We get a 120 Hz display with HDR10 plus and a resolution of 1440 by 3120, and it's going to be protected by Gorilla Glass Armor 3. We get a punch-hole camera top center to house a 12 megapixel selfie camera. Then over on the rear, we get a quad camera setup consisting of a wide, an ultrawide, a telephoto, and a periscope camera. But again, at this moment in time, we don't know the exact sensors being used. It's going to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 in all regions. And it's coming with up to 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage, which will of course be UFS4. Now, it's coming with a 5,000 mAh battery with significant improvements to the fast charging. And it will, of course, come with 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, and ultra-wideband support. It's launching with One UI 8 based on Android 16, and is expected to launch from around $1,300 in January 2026.
So overall, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is looking like another fairly sensible release from Samsung, but this time we've got many respectable upgrades in hardware that make up for the lack of design changes. Now, of course, we're going to get plenty of improvements to hardware and software and AI. And of course, we're also getting an upgrade to the camera sensor in there as well, but like the past few years, it shares many similarities with its predecessor. So, I don't think anyone with an S25 is going to be rushing out for an upgrade. But for anyone with an older phone or maybe looking to try out their first S phone, then it's going to be a great choice. Now, of course, we're still quite a way away from the official launch, but as we approach it, more and more leaks are going to come in, and I'm going to be sharing them as soon as they do. So, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing in the future.