iPhone envy? A new leak shows off an orange Galaxy S26 Ultra — and I'm all for it

A recent leaked image shows what appears to be dummy units of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, including one in a very familiar-looking color.

The image, shared by Redditor Direct-Till-2680, shows three Galaxy S26 Ultra dummy units in different colors. The Silver and gold options seem relatively normal, but the real focus is on the bright orange color. At a glance, there's no getting past how similar the color is to the iPhone 17 Pro's Cosmic Orange option.

There's an old adage that every good idea will have its imitators, which often proves true when it comes to the best phones. However, the reaction to this color hasn't exactly been super positive.

For instance, one user called losplatanos1 stated, “That color has to be a joke.” Another named TypicalWeirdoSOS, remarked that “almost every huge phone company is trying to be like Apple, originality is dead.”

I can certainly see why some people are a bit down on the idea, but I'm going to take the opposite stance. I actually like the color option and it would certainly push me towards buying a Galaxy S26 Ultra if it turns out to be true.

Phones need more bright options

Here's the thing: I find a lot of phone color options really boring to look at nowadays. Some of my favorite phones in terms of looks was the iPhone 5C lineup. They came in a range of bright, interesting colors like yellow and bright green. They made a statement while also helping the phones really stand out.

Meanwhile, modern phones all seem to go for the more muted options, usually either a basic silver, gold and black. That isn't to say there aren't some more interesting options out there; the Galaxy S22 Ultra had quite a cool green color, for instance. However, the iPhone 17 Pro's Cosmic Orange option really struck me as being different from what we've seen before, and it's something I'd like to see more of.

Having brighter options helps to make the phone feel more personal, and doesn't require you to buy a case to show off your phone. Let's be honest, owning a phone is mostly a matter of need, but we also want to show them off a little bit. However, considering the options available have gotten a little stale, we've had to rely on cases to do this.

There's more to brighter colors than just looking good, though. For one thing, they're much easier to find, which is especially helpful if you're like me and tend to forget where you put your phone.

For instance, I've searched all through a room for my iPhone 15 Pro Max simply because I didn't spot it stuck halfway down the seat cushions. This doesn't happen nearly as much with brighter colors, as they're much easier to spot at a glance. Well, unless you had an orange couch, of course.

Now, obviously, if both Samsung and Apple have the same color options, then that's also an issue, as we're just back to everything looking the same. As such, I would hope that Samsung takes note of another recent announcement regarding possible colors.

A mix of colors looks better than a single block

The thing is that block colors can often cause a phone to lose that sense of shape for me. However, we recently saw DBrand launch a new range of Cosmic Orange cases for a bunch of devices, including the Galaxy S25 Ultra seen above. What I really like about this look is that the cases are a mix of two different colors, in this case, orange and black.

This design is something I would like to see Samsung do with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. In the interest of fairness, there are a couple of reasons why phone makers tend to focus on using block colors. For instance, they often look better in marketing material, as well as being generally much easier to produce.

However, and I realize this is a personal preference, I think having two colors on a device just looks better. It helps to create a sense of shape on a phone, while also offering better contrast and helping the design to stand out. Obviously, you can buy cases like this, but it's something I would want to see on an actual phone.

Hopefully the Galaxy S26 series bucks the trend

The Galaxy S26 series is still a while away, so at this point it's anybody's guess what the final product will look like. However, I hope that Samsung avoids the same color options that we keep seeing with phones. The worst case is that I have to... well, buy a case in the color I want. Admittedly, you should do this anyway, but having brighter colors would make transparent cases more palatable to me.

Let me know what you guys think. What colors do you want to see on the Galaxy S26 Ultra?

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