Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra - 15+ Upgrades To Look Forward To! ( Leaks & Rumours )
Word has been leaked via the underworld grapevine. There are likely to be more than 20 upgrades to the upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra. I'm sure you've seen some videos already, but maybe not all in one place. And if that's what you've been looking for, we'll then ( I'm your Huckleberry ) I'm going to attempt to list these in order of most exciting to least; however, some of the least exciting stuff might make a big difference to you. You’ll see what I mean.
1. Privacy Display flex magic
So, in my opinion, this is the most exciting upgrade. The Galaxy S26 Ultra will be the world's first phone to feature an adaptive Privacy Display. What makes it very special and very different from traditional privacy glass screen protectors is its ability to be switched off whenever you don’t need it. And thanks to Samsung's Modes & Routines App. You can set it up so that it only switches on when you're not at home. So if you’ve been on a train or plane or on a bus or something like that, and you’ve caught someone spying on your phone. This is designed to prevent that. And without ruining the screen quality in any way. This is such a good feature; I fully expect we will see many other brands wanting to copy it in the future.
2. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy
Now, listen if you feel the need. “ The need for speed”. Well, the Galaxy S26 Ultra could be the fastest Android phone on the planet in early 2026. And there are two big advantages. One is that Samsung gets an exclusive custom chip from Qualcomm each year that other brands don’t have access to. It will be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. Now you might ask: how much better will this version of the chip be compared to, let's say, the OnePlus 15’s 8 Elite Gen 5? Well, based on how last year's Galaxy chip performed. We could expect a 3.5% uplift in CPU performance and, more significantly, a 10-15% improvement in GPU performance.
3. Bigger TIM 15% larger. (TIM stands for Thermal Interface Material, a substance used to improve heat transfer between a chip and its cooling system)
Now, here’s the second advantage Samsung has in terms of performance. There are a number of flagships on the market now with the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. And in all honesty, the chip is so powerful, but with great performance must come great heat. Samsung has the advantage because it can see how the processor performs in other devices. Which means Samsung can get a good look at the strengths and weaknesses of the other brands' cooling solutions.
And word on the street is that the new Tim is going to be 15% larger this time to make sure the supercharged chip doesn’t cook the phone. Whilst being able to deliver maybe industry-leading performance on an Android.
4. Faster charging up to 60 watts
So speed in power is what makes the world go round. And when it comes to power delivery speed, there is rumoured to be some interesting upgrades here. The peak speed on Samsung devices has been 45 Watts, giving you a full recharge of the S25 Ultra in around 60 to 90 mins.
However, rumours suggest that on the S26 ultra, the charging speed will ramp to 60 Watts, which could bring a full recharge down to around 50 minutes. It’s important to note that speeds will only peak at the start of the charge cycle. This does mean a 10-minute charge when on a low battery will likely deliver around 25% more power.
5. Faster Wireless Qi2 25 watts
Ok, here is another power move by Samsung, and it will be welcomed by some people. Wireless charging speeds are also set to increase from 15 Watts to 25 Watts. ( how about that ). Which means that the max recharge time of just under 3 hours on S25 Ultra could be reduced to under 2 hours. Of course, thermals play a part in this, but again, maybe the newer, bigger Tim will help keep it from turning into a cooking surface.
6. Qi 2 Magnets
Ok, so this might attract some potential new owners. Along with the upgraded Qi2 wireless charging speeds. We might see, for the first time in a Galaxy Ultra phone, Qi2 magnets built in beneath the surface. So this opens the door to lots of new magnetic accessories that previously could only be used with a magnetic case. So we’re talking about magnetic power banks, charging pucks, wallets, kickstands, and table-top charging docks, to name a few. Let me know if this is something you’re happy to see.
7. LPDDR5X Ultra+ - 10.7Gbps
Ok, so you already know the Galaxy S26 Ultra is going to be a fast phone. While this hasn’t been officially leaked, there is a good chance we might see the latest and greatest LPDDR5X Ultra+ RAM on board. However, they might not call it that. Word has leaked that the RAM speeds will reach up to 10.7Gbps, in line with the Ultra+ RAM seen in the OnePlus 15 16GB model.
8. Wait, where’s number 8? (Just checking if you’re still paying attention.)
9. Deeper lenses resulting in a new camera island step
Now, look, this upgrade is one of the more prominent leaks out there today. The depth of the camera lenses will increase. And this is a good thing. More space for more lenses, or better-quality lenses, will certainly improve camera performance. And to better blend these taller lenses into the design, Samsung has redesigned the camera module & will add what some refer to as a camera island step. Somewhat similar to what Sony uses on their Xperia flagship devices.
And it does seem that improving the optics and camera housing has been an area Samsung has focused on with the S26 Ultra, more so than just using new sensors. These types of upgrades continue into number 10.
10. Better apertures ( main f1.7 to F1.4 and periscope f.3.4 to f2.9 )
Again, this has been heavily leaked. While we may see MP upgrade to the periscope sensor and possibly the 3X telephoto. The more significant camera hardware upgrades are the brighter, better lenses. The Aperture on the primary 200MP camera will jump from F.1.7 to F1.4 & the periscope will have a bigger jump from F3.4 to F2.9. (That’s a lot of F’s to give about camera specs.)
Put simply, these lenses let in more light. This could make a notable difference to low-light photography performance and also improve the natural shallow depth of field. This is where the foreground is tack sharp, and the background appears naturally defocused.
11. 24MP default camera mode
Many believe that the Oppo Find X9 Pro was the camera king in 2025. And here is one feature that Samsung is rumoured to have borrowed from Oppo’s camera approach. Thanks to the upgraded and faster Snapdragon chip in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Image processing can be much faster. And thanks to these rumours, it is suggested that the Galaxy S25 Ultra delivers 12MP photos by default unless you tell it otherwise. The S26 Ultra will default to 24 MP images straight out of the box.
Combine that with the brighter, higher-quality lens upgrades, and we could see some incredible improvements in detail, even in low light. Because in the past, higher MP modes didn’t perform as well at night, they took longer to process, and they didn’t have the same advantage as 12MP, which can combine 4 image sensor pixels into one. And a little bonus upgrade that’s been mentioned is a computational photography upgrade that could improve skin tone colour accuracy. Similar to what we’ve seen on Google Pixel phones before.
11. Larger selfie cutout ( no mention, but maybe copying Apple's approach )
Ok, this one has gone under the radar a little bit, but it might be a big deal. According to leaked renders, the selfie camera cutout will be slightly larger. This could mean a few things. Again, Samsung might be bringing in another lens upgrade, possibly with a better aperture, and it has also been said that the field of view will be wider. And this is just wishful thinking, but it would be awesome to see Samsung add a square sensor behind the scenes, just like Apple has done on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If they do, you could take landscape or portrait selfies regardless of the phone's orientation.
12. Brighter Display M14 Amoled 3000 nits ( up 400 nits )
Ok, look, here is another upgrade, which we are very likely to see. Samsung Display is the best in the business, and of course, they’re going to roll out the best of the best for their ultra phone. The new M14 panel is rumoured to be 400 Nits brighter than the S25 Ultra display. This is a welcome upgrade and possibly a necessary one because you might need that extra brightness to power through when using the all-new privacy display. And just a side note, I’ve got my fingers crossed that we see the same, or a newer, stronger version of the anti-reflective Corning Gorilla Armour glass.
13. Bigger Battery 5200 ( up from 5000 )
So you know speed and performance will undoubtedly increase, and so will the power supply… slightly. Samsung is sticking with the more trustworthy Lithium-Ion battery tech. But it is getting bigger, with the S25 Ultra's 5000 mAh battery upgraded to the S26 Ultra's 5200 mAh battery. This extra might be what's needed to power the new, brighter display and possibly run the privacy glass feature without decreasing overall battery life compared to last year's flagship. But it's also worth noting that the newer chipset will be more energy-efficient, so don’t be surprised if the battery life is much better than you might expect.
And I know you might be wondering why Samsung hasn't made the jump to silicon carbon. It's not entirely clear why, but one thing is for sure. The risk of explosion is, in fact, higher with Silicon Carbon, and I'm sure Samsung probably doesn't want to take it at this point. (Because nothing says “premium flagship” quite like a phone that doubles as a firework.)
14. Perplexed Bixby
Now, this may or may not be a big deal. Word on the street is that maybe, just maybe, Bixby might be getting a huge upgrade. Some rumours suggest that Samsung might partner with Perplexity AI’s large language model to improve AI automation across Samsung devices. If this turns out to be true, it could mean that if you have Samsung TVs, computers, washing machines, fridges, robovacs, for example. You could use voice commands via your phone to schedule and automate on an entirely new level… However, I do wonder whether this might be a negotiation tactic by Samsung to secure a better deal from Google, especially since it seems Apple is now in discussions with Google about integrating Gemini into Siri. Let me know what you think.
15. No Titanium
Alright, this one must have been a tough decision & could realistically be called a downgrade. However, there is an upside to this. Word on the street is that we’re unlikely to see Titanium on any of the Galaxy S26 devices this year. And I have a theory as to why this might be the case. With the larger battery and possibly heavier camera optics used this time around. Samsung probably had to find a way to reduce the weight. And yes, the tensile strength of Samsung's Armour Aluminium isn’t as strong as that of titanium, but it is lighter.
I don’t personally see this as a problem because… although this is not an official statistic, it's highly likely that the large majority of people who sign a long phone contract or buy a phone for over a thousand pounds will also buy a case. I wouldn’t be surprised if it's upwards of 90% of people, and if you are one of the hypothetical 10%. That probably means you’re rich, and if that's the case, if you wouldn’t mind. Let us have some money, will ya?
16. Rounded Corners
Now, this next rumour is the one that I’m not the biggest fan of. I heard that the display corners and the new aluminium frame will be even more rounded. If this is true, Samsung has probably done this to improve the device's ergonomics… but, in my personal opinion, at the cost of what used to be an iconic and identifiable design aspect of their previous flagships. And it might slightly downgrade the viewing experience.
Of course, I’m talking about the squared corners. Hear me out: if your living room TV had rounded corners, or if you went to the cinema and the screen had curved corners, would that improve or degrade those displays? It's a hot take, but I preferred the more complete display experience over the slightly softer corners when holding the phone. Let me know if you disagree.
17. Rounded Pen Ejector
One nice upgrade to come out of this rounded corner modification is that the S Pen will now sit closer to the edge and will also be slightly round which could make it easier to access this time around but, because the button will be no longer symmetrical it will mean you’ll have to check that you’ve got it the right way around when you put it back. This is a new problem we haven’t had before. (Welcome to the USB-A experience, but make it fancy.)
18. Exynos
Ok, this is not an upgrade but more of a possibility. Apparently, some regions may get the new 2nm Exynos 2200 chip instead of the Galaxy Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Historically, The Exynos has been good but not quite as good as the Snapdragon overall. So, I don’t think we’ll see this in the Ultra models, but (you’re saying there’s a chance) it could happen. But it’s probably more likely we’ll see it in the base model of the S26. It will be interesting to see how this stacks up to the Elite Gen 5. I’ll try to test this out in the future.
19. Black Shadow, White Shadow, Galactic Blue, and Ultraviolet (a deep purple).
So we are nearly there, if you’re sold on what you’ve heard so far. You’re probably wondering what colour will be the best this year. Replacing the Titanium naming strategy, this is a new Shadow theme. This might be a reference to how light will roll off the finish on the back glass. And right now, there are four colours that we are very likely to see. Black shadow, white shadow, Galactial Blue and Ultra Violet, which I am hoping is a strong purple, the polar opposite of Apple's horrific orange colour used on the iPhone 17.
There will also almost definitely be some online exclusives to keep an eye out for. If you could request any colour, what would you choose?
19. February 25th Unpacked / March 11 shipping
And the last leak is pretty much confirmed. Word on the street is that Samsung Galaxy Unpacked will be on the 25th, with phones shipping out as early as March 11th. And I do have a little hook-up for you if you are considering buying one, even if you’re not 100% sold yet. It’ll still be worth checking out just in case.
There’ll be an official Samsung link below this video that unlocks a bunch of perks most people won’t get when they buy their S26. And the great thing about that link is you’re not committing to buy anything. But if you do. You’ll be glad you found this video. I appreciate you guys for watching. Check out the link to learn more and not miss out on the official Samsung freebies. And if you haven’t subscribed yet…make it so.
