Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review: We tested its camera, AI, Privacy Display and call screening for a month

The Ultra line in Samsung’s Galaxy S series has long stood at the apex of Android smartphones. In recent years, however, rival manufacturers have raised the bar with innovations like high-capacity silicon-carbon batteries and increasingly sophisticated camera systems.

Against this paradigm shift, can the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra still hold its crown? Or is it time for the South Korean giant to go back to the drawing board and rethink what “Ultra” really means?

FEATURES OF THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S26 ULTRA

On paper, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is an upgrade over its 2025 predecessor – even if the changes are minuscule.

It’s taller (163.6 mm vs 162.8 mm), wider (78.1 mm vs 77.6 mm), thinner (7.9 mm vs 8.2 mm) and lighter (214g vs 218g).

Its camera system is largely the same: A 50MP ultrawide camera, a 200 MP wide camera, a 50MP telephoto camera with five times optical zoom, a 10MP telephoto camera with three times optical zoom and a 12MP front camera.

The upgrades you get here are the slightly wider apertures on the main 200MP camera and 50MP telephoto camera – f/1.4 and f/2.9, respectively – which theoretically should result in brighter images.

At 5,000 mAh, the S26 Ultra sports the same battery capacity as the S25 Ultra. However, it is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, which Samsung claims delivers up to a 19 per cent increase in CPU performance, a 39 per cent improvement in NPU performance and a 24 per cent boost in GPU performance compared to last year’s model.

Then, you have the AI features. Love them or loathe them, Samsung is doubling down on its AI push and the S26 Ultra is the resulting concoction. Some highlights this year include Photo Assist, which now allows you to edit images by simply typing out the changes you want and AI-assisted call screening that filters out unknown callers.

And finally, the much-touted Privacy Display. When activated, this built-in feature dims the S26 Ultra’s screen, supposedly making it nearly impossible for those around you to view its contents.

Of course, specs just tell one side of the story. What really matters is how the S26 Ultra holds up in the real world.

After a month of me using it, here’s the answer.

PRIVACY DISPLAY WORKS AS INTENDED

Good news for those who are attracted by the Privacy Display; it actually does what it says it does.

I activated it in various environments – indoors, outdoors, at concerts, you name it – and got my friends to try to peep at the S26 Ultra from the sides. I can safely say that 100 per cent of the time, no one could tell what was on the screen.

There are, however, two big caveats. 

Firstly, if someone behind you were to view the phone directly over your shoulder, they would very likely be able to see the screen, depending on how you're tilting the device.

Secondly, once Privacy Display is activated, and especially on the maximum privacy setting, the display gets noticeably dimmer. While this doesn’t affect the overall usability of the phone itself, the difference in brightness is, pardon the pun, like night and day.

Then, there’s the elephant in the room: Would you pay upwards of S$1,828 for something that can be achieved by a S$10 privacy screen guard from Shopee?

Granted, the S26 Ultra offers way more customisation, such as the option to automatically activate Privacy Display when using certain apps, but is this convenience enough to justify the purchase?

SUPERB CAMERA SYSTEM… IF YOU CAN FIND IT

The S26 Ultra offers one of the best camera and video systems currently in an Android device. The problem is that they’re tucked away in various modes, configurations and settings.

Right out of the box, the S26 Ultra’s “vanilla” photo and video modes do a decent job. Under normal and favourable lighting conditions, the images and videos captured are really nice.

In fact, in certain low-light environments, such as outdoors at night, you can get well-lit photos.

The main issue – and it’s a major one – happens when you’re using the phone indoors with poor and/or variable lighting conditions. Think concerts and conference halls with no windows. If you’re an entertainment journalist like me, that’s pretty much most of the time.

Due to the lack of customisability in the “vanilla” photo and video modes, the captured photos and videos often end up looking extremely saturated and overly smooth.

The main kicker is that all these problems disappear the moment you utilise Expert Raw and Pro Video – modes that are hidden away in the “More” section of the camera app, with the former requiring an additional download.

These modes literally elevate the camera system to a whole different level with a wealth of customisability options onscreen, like white balance and ISO.

The S26 Ultra even has a Virtual Aperture setting that lets you simulate different aperture values, resulting in excellent portrait shots – with some even coming close to those captured by DSLR cameras.

This absolute game-changer of a feature is hidden in, you guessed it, Expert Raw.

So if you do end up buying the S26 Ultra for its camera, make sure you watch YouTube tutorials and learn how to make the most out of it.

Because while they're decent, the “vanilla” photo and video modes only scratch the surface of what the S26 Ultra is truly capable of.

AI FEATURES THAT ARE ACTUALLY USEFUL

Despite my overall ambivalence toward Samsung’s AI push, I will have to give props to Samsung this year – many of the new features are genuinely useful in everyday life.

Speaking as an introvert who hates answering unknown calls, I think Call Screening, which lets an AI assistant answer calls on your behalf, stands as one of the best AI tools Samsung has put into a phone.

Sure, the safest option is to ignore unknown calls altogether. But in my experience, Call Screening works surprisingly well – legitimate callers will engage with the AI assistant and state their purpose and, paradoxically, scammers will think you’re the scammer after hearing the AI assistant speak and end the call.

Another feature I love is one Samsung has surprisingly not promoted much: the new, updated version of Audio Eraser. 

Available as part of One UI 8.5 on the S26 Ultra, it now works in real time across apps like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. 

That means you can toggle a setting to drastically reduce the background noise of a video you're streaming – a godsend when you’re watching concert fancams with people hollering in the background.

GREAT BATTERY LIFE

The S26 Ultra’s 5,000mAh battery capacity doesn’t sound particularly impressive at a time when many manufacturers are pushing past the 6,000mAh mark.

Nonetheless, one of the biggest surprises I’ve experienced with the phone is its excellent battery life. A full charge can last me over 13 hours of regular use, longer than what I got with the S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra by about an hour.

VERDICT ON THE NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY S26 ULTRA

It’s no secret that Samsung has been directing much of its focus and innovations towards software optimisation. However, because the hardware upgrades in the S26 Ultra are so incremental and the fact that many of the star software features will likely trickle down to older devices via updates, the giant leap in the phone can feel somewhat like a small step if you're a user coming off a more recent Ultra device.

The upgrades that are unique to the S26 Ultra, though impressive, don't necessitate you changing a perfectly usable phone – unless you really have the cash to spare.

So is the S26 Ultra, and the Ultra line in general, still a worthwhile purchase in 2026?

If your phone needs a dire upgrade, and I mean dire, then yes: You will definitely get an amazing experience with the S26 Ultra. As a whole, the phone is a superb all-rounder. 

You won't necessarily get the best-in-class results for every single feature, but across the board, the S26 Ultra performs well within the top percentile of current Android phones.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is now available for purchase via Samsung's official website and at other retail outlets. Recommended retail prices for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra start at S$1,828.