Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra upgrade guide: What owners of older models should do

Despite a rumored delay for its next Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung remains poised to be the first phone maker to unleash new flagship phones in 2026, with the Galaxy S26 Ultra expected to be the top-of-the-line model. I'm pretty confident the new phone is going to be a solid best phone contender, but at the same time, I know how tough it can be to convince yourself to upgrade if you have an older model.

That’s why I’m going to break down the question of whether or not you should upgrade to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, by looking at the rumored improvements tipped for the coming phone and comparing that to older models from the last three years — the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S24 Ultra, and Galaxy S25 Ultra. Knowing this information ahead of the official Galaxy S26 launch is crucial, because it may be enough to convince you to hold off and perhaps wait for next year's model: the Galaxy S27 Ultra.

Galaxy S26 Ultra rumored specs breakdown

Iterative design changes

Samsung has tweaked the designs of its Ultra phones with each subsequent release, and it looks like the forthcoming model is no exception. For the last few generations, the changes have largely been iterative like how the design has slowly deviated from the curved edges of the Galaxy S23 Ultra to the flatter side with the S25 Ultra.

With the Galaxy S26 Ultra, however, it appears that Samsung’s making its phone more rounder than ever based on some of the leaked renders of the phone. Another small design change is reportedly a raised compartment for the cameras on the back, which isn’t a big deal in my opinion.

I personally wouldn’t let the design be a major factor in my Galaxy S26 Ultra upgrade decision, unless the new phone somehow gets a dramatically thinner chassis — but that’s not likely with reports claiming it will be between 7 and 8mm thick.

Built-in privacy screen would be neat

The first thing I want to break down is the Galaxy S26 Ultra display, seeing that’s probably what most people will interact the most. There doesn’t appear to be a size difference between what Samsung's planning and the current Galaxy S25 Ultra, which I suspect will offer the same 3120 x 1440 resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

More importantly, though, I expect the Galaxy S26 Ultra to have a much brighter screen given how each new model has always exceeded the previous one. For example, the Galaxy 25 Ultra saw a substantial increase to a peak brightness output of 1,830 nits — which is a marked improvement over the 1,363 and 1,225 nit marks we recorded with the S24 Ultra and S23 Ultra, respectively. If the Galaxy S26 Ultra can overcome the 2,000 nit hump, that alone could make it worth the upgrade. But there’s more potential changes in store.

Specifically, the rumors hint at the S26 Ultra adopting CoE depolarizer technology and third-generation anti-reflective glass to improve the screen’s clarity and brightness.

The cooler part is that Samsung could be introducing a feature called “Flex Magic” that basically functions a lot like those privacy screen protectors that block out the view from the sides — but in this case, it would be natively integrated with the display, as opposed to being a screen protector.

A couple of camera upgrades?

I can’t think of anything more important to look at whenever buying a new phone than what cameras it will feature. Samsung caused quite a stir with the last few generations because it ditched the 10MP telephoto shooter with 10x optical zoom of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, swapping it for a 50MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom with subsequent releases.

If you look at the rumored camera specs of the Galaxy S26 Ultra, they share a lot in common with the current S25 Ultra — but there are some notable differences. For starters, the 200MP main camera appears to be getting a faster f/1.4 aperture that would make it better for low light and fast moving subjects. Considering how the iPhone 17 Pro Max is king of low light, this would be a much-needed upgrade that could show significant improvements for the S26 Ultra.

While the ultrawide and 5x telephoto cameras appear to be unchanged on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, rumors hint at the 3x telephoto camera getting upgraded from a 10MP sensor to 12MP one. I’m not quite as convinced about this upgrade and would prefer Samsung continuing to upgrade its 5x telephoto lens instead — but nevertheless, it’s a potential upgrade that could be compelling enough.

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I put the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra through my 200 photo shootout, with minimal improvements for the newer device. I did see some improvement in low light, which you can see in some of the photos above.

With the S26 Ultra, however, the combination of a faster aperture with its main camera and upgraded 3x telephoto shooter could be enough to upgrade from any previous flagship models.

Qi2 support and faster charging could be good compensation

If there’s one thing that the OnePlus 15 has proven to me, it has to be that all-day battery life is possible once again — largely due to the newer carbon-silicon battery tech it’s using. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound as if the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be adopting this technology, as rumors hint at the same 5,000 mAh battery as before. (Some rumors do suggest a bigger battery for the S26 Ultra, but only a modest increase.)

Despite this, you can see from the chart above how each new Galaxy Ultra release delivered longer battery life than the previous model. I expect the S26 Ultra battery life to be even better due to the power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 it should be getting. That said, I’m also eager to know what improvements, if any, will come with the variant running the Exynos 2600 — another rumor ahead of the S26 Ultra's launch.

Another incentive that could make it worth upgrading to the Galaxy 26 Ultra from any of the previous models is the faster 60W wired charging speed it’s supposedly getting — up from the 45W speeds. And if that’s not enough, I’m stoked about the possibility of Samsung finally adding proper magnets to the phone for full Qi2 wireless charging support.

Promising Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performance

Being the latest and greatest Samsung model, the Galaxy S26 Ultra would be expected to get the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. And that chip has already proven to deliver marked improvements.

CPU benchmark scores will no doubt benefit this upcoming phone, but I’m anticipating a wider spread with its GPU performance. I only say this because of the difference between the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 13.

If you don’t care much about gaming, you might not notice a whole lot different with everyday tasks you do on your phone. Knowing that, I wouldn’t say it’s worth an upgrade if you have the S25 Ultra already.

However, it’s also been reported that Samsung will be upping the RAM to 16GB. That should make the new device perform better when you’re juggling around multiple apps at once, but this upgrade could benefit some of the new software improvements.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that some markets will reportedly get the S26 Ultra with an Exynos 2600 chip. It’s hard to say if we’ll see a dramatic difference in performance, but hopefully Samsung's silicon will achieve the same stellar performance as Qualcomm’s flagship chip.

Galaxy AI features could be exclusive to S26 Ultra

In my experience with using older Galaxy Ultra phones, Samsung’s quite generous at giving them most of the same software features as newer models — including Galaxy AI stuff. That’s important because I’m sure the company’s going to introduce even more features powered by AI this year.

However, there’s a rumor floating around that hints to the Galaxy S26 Ultra getting exclusive Galaxy AI features that won’t be available in other Galaxy S26 devices.

This is notable because it would be a departure from what Samsung has historically done by rolling out the features and tools to its entire lineup. At the same time, this could mean that these exclusive features might not trickle down to older Galaxy Ultra phones. If this indeed becomes the case, then there’s more incentive to make the upgrade if you have the S23 or S24 Ultra.

Should you upgrade?

Now that you know more about what the Galaxy S26 Ultra might offer, it’s time for me to tell you if it’s worth upgrading to if you have an older model. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to the S26 Ultra if you currently have the S25 Ultra. My feelings about year-over-year upgrades aren’t unique to these specific phones, but rather a reflection of how I feel about all phones in general.

For those of you still rocking the Galaxy S23 Ultra, there’s no question at this point that upgrading to the S26 Ultra will be a solid yes. There’s going to be so much of a spread in nearly every facet, especially in its performance and battery life. And while I still love that 10x optical zoom camera on board the S23 Ultra, newer processing algorithms and other camera upgrades should yield dramatically better results.

It’s a much harder decision for anyone rocking the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Even though it’s coming up to two years now, it’s still a formidable phone that packs many of my favorite Galaxy AI features found on the S25 Ultra, like the Now Brief and Now Bar. Until we get more concrete details about the S26 Ultra, it’s a maybe for me if you still have the S24 Ultra.

Samsung’s kept the price of its premium phone at $1,299 since the S24 Ultra, but it’s very possible that a price increase is in store for the S26 Ultra. It may affect certain regions more. That’s why I’m not as enthused about telling people to upgrade from the S25 Ultra, but it’s certainly worth it for S23 Ultra owners.

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