Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Comparing price, specs, and features

How much does a phone change in a year anyway?

That’s what we are here to know. Samsung just launched its Galaxy S26 Ultra flagship handset at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco, which means it’s time to see how it compares to the Galaxy S25 Ultra from a year ago. Both phones are powerful Android devices, but one would hope that an extra year would have given Samsung some time to refine and improve the S26 Ultra.

We’ve only had a short amount of time with the latest flagship, and we’ll have a full review soon. In the meantime, here’s how the two phones compare in terms of price, specs and feature set.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Price

It’s easy. The S25 Ultra launched last year for $1,299.99, and this year the S26 Ultra also launched at the same price. Samsung didn’t increase the price year-on-year, which would make the comparison easier. (S26 and S26 Plus Did However, get a price increase.)

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Specs and display

Here are the basic specifications of the Galaxy S25 Ultra:

• 6.9-inch AMOLED display with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and 3120×1440 resolution

• Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy Processor

• 256GB/512GB/1TB storage options

• 12gb ram

• 5,000mAh battery

And here are the similar specifications of the Galaxy S26 Ultra for general comparison:

• 6.9-inch AMOLED display with adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate and 3120×1440 resolution

• Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy Processor

• 256/512GB/1TB storage options

• 12/16 GB RAM

• 5,000mAh battery

As you can see, Samsung did not succeed with this annual upgrade. Both phones appear to have almost identical display specs, as well as the same battery size. As stated, Samsung has created Some? Changes for 2026. The processor is newer and theoretically more powerful, and the 1TB storage model also comes with an increase to 16GB of RAM. This means performance should be better on the new phone, although it remains to be seen by how much.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Design

Samsung didn’t reinvent the wheel when it came to the physical design of the S26 Ultra, but it doesn’t look exactly like the S25 Ultra.

mashable light speed

For starters, the new phone is a bit thinner and lighter than last year’s model. Samsung has also raised the rear cameras slightly, meaning they stick out more prominently from the phone’s profile than before. It’s not entirely clear where we stand Why Samsung did it, but it did it, so it’s worth pointing out. Ultimately, based on our short time with the device, its overall design is less boxy.

Here are the colors available for the S25 Ultra:

• titanium gray

• titanium whitesilver

• titanium silverblue

• titanium black

• titanium pinkgold

• titanium jadegrain

• titanium jetblack

And here are the colors of the S26 Ultra:

• cobalt violet

• sky blue

• Black

• white

• silver shadow

• rose gold

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Top new features

As far as what’s new with the S26 Ultra, the biggest answer will probably be the privacy display. This is a new, built-in feature at the device level that will dim the screen for anyone looking at it from an off angle, hopefully giving users some peace of mind when seeing what they’re watching in public. We don’t know yet how well it works due to lack of direct testing, but the S25 Ultra didn’t have it, and the S26 Ultra does.

Additionally, the S26 Ultra brings 60-watt fast charging into the mix. If you have a compatible charger and are tired of waiting for your phone to fill up, this is great news.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Cameras

Samsung’s S series phones are long overdue for camera upgrades, and the S26 has the feature.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and its predecessor have four rear cameras: 200MP wide, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom, 10MP with 3x optical zoom. Both devices also have a front-facing 12MP selfie camera.

However, according to Samsung, the new Galaxy S26 Ultra has a wider camera aperture, allowing more light to enter and resulting in clearer and more detailed photos. The company also says the Galaxy S26 Ultra has upgraded Super Steady capabilities for smoother 4K video and advanced nitography video to enhance output in low-light settings.

Overall, you can expect a better camera system with the S26 Ultra, which is no surprise.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: More AI features

Samsung has made some upgrades to the overall AI feature set with the S26 Ultra. Unsurprisingly, the S26 is being said to be an “agent” phone with an artificial intelligence experience integrated into all your devices, and the Galaxy Unpacked focused heavily on AI. As an example, the S26 Ultra will offer AI call screening, answering calls, and taking notes when you’re too busy to answer. Users can also choose between Samsung’s Bixby, Google Gemini, and Perplexity.

Additionally, the S26 Ultra features a new suite of AI image and video editing tools called Creative Studio. There’s also a new AI image editor built right into the camera app. Users can describe the edits they want, and the AI ​​will take care of the rest.