Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t launching until early 2026. But the S26 Ultra leaks are already here. Should you buy the Galaxy S25 Ultra right now. That’s a real question with real money on the line. Nobody wants to drop $1,300 on a phone only to watch Samsung release something way better three months later.
Galaxy S26 phones hitting stores in early March. That’s about three months away if you’re reading this in late 2025.We’ve got five major hardware changes leaked by reliable sources. Some upgrades actually matter. Others are just marketing fluff. Features make a real difference in your daily life and which ones you won’t even notice.
1. Faster 60W Charging
Samsung finally listened. The Galaxy S26 Ultra charging speed jumps to 60W from the S25 Ultra’s 45W. The S26 Ultra battery goes from 0% to 50% in about 15 minutes. Need 80% charge. Compare that to the S25 Ultra, which takes a full 57 minutes to charge completely. The S26 Ultra does it in roughly 45 minutes.
How the 60W Fast Charging Actually Works?
The charging isn’t constant at 60W the whole time. Samsung designed it to protect your S26 Ultra battery. First 15% of charge 55W of power. From 15% to 70% 45W of power. After 70% Power drops lower to protect the battery.
Your new charger needs something called 14V PPS support. Most older Samsung chargers won’t cut it. You’ll want to grab Samsung’s official 60W charger or a third-party one that lists PPS compatibility.
Still Behind the Competition
OnePlus phones charge at 100W. Xiaomi hits 120W. Those phones fill up in 20 minutes flat. Samsung took years to get here. The S25 Ultra’s 45W charging barely worked as advertised.
Tests showed it dropping to just 34W pretty quickly. That made charging slower than Samsung promised. The S26 Ultra battery capacity stays at 5,000mAh. Same size as before. Samsung focused on speed, not size.
Why This Matters for You ?
Think about your morning routine. You wake up. Your phone’s at 10%. You’ve got 15 minutes before you leave. You’d get maybe 35% charge. Not enough for a full day. You’d hit 50% or more. That’s enough to last until lunch, maybe longer. For years, people complained that Galaxy phones charged too slow. Now Samsung’s catching up.
2. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Power Boost
The Galaxy S26 Ultra processor gets a serious upgrade. Samsung’s packing in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. This matters because your phone does everything faster. Apps open quicker. Games run smoother. Your battery lasts longer.The chip has 2 prime cores running at 4.6GHz and 6 performance cores at 3.6GHz.
Prime cores as sprinters and performance cores as marathon runners. You get both. S26 Ultra performance jumps 20% faster than the S25 Ultra overall. The CPU also runs 35% more efficiently, which means less battery drain when you’re using your phone.
Gaming Gets Way Better
Adreno GPU that’s the graphics processor runs at 1.2GHz with its own dedicated memory layer. That’s tech talk for your games look better and run smoother. 23% better gaming performance and 25% faster ray tracing. Ray tracing makes light and shadows look realistic in games.
Most phones struggle with it. The S26 Ultra handles it easily. Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile. Higher graphics settings. Fewer dropped frames. Less heat coming from your phone.
AI Features That Actually Help
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has better AI processing built in. Not the gimmicky kind. The useful kind. Remove objects from photos faster. Fix blurry shots automatically. Voice features improve too. Transcribing voice memos happens instantly. Translation works offline. Your assistant understands you better even in noisy places.
The Exynos Problem
Some regions might get the Exynos 2600 instead. That’s Samsung’s own processor. And historically, it’s been worse. Slower performance. Worse battery life. US and China are confirmed to get Snapdragon versions. If you’re in Europe or other markets, you might be stuck with Exynos. Samsung hasn’t confirmed which regions get which chip yet.
3. Camera Changes (But Not What You’d Expect)
Disappointing part out first. The Galaxy S26 Ultra camera keeps the same 200MP main sensor from the S25 Ultra. Same 200MP HP2 camera you already have if you own the S25 Ultra. But Samsung changed one thing that actually matters: the aperture.
What the f/1.4 Aperture Actually Does
The S26 Ultra camera specs show the main lens now has an f/1.4 aperture instead of f/1.7. That’s a bigger opening that lets in more light. About 40% more light hits the sensor in low conditions. Better night photos. Less grain in dark restaurants.
Clearer shots of your kids running around at dusk. Your pictures look sharper when there’s not much light around. Think of aperture like a window. The S25 Ultra had a medium sized window. The S26 Ultra has a bigger window. More light comes through.
The One Real Upgrade: 3x Zoom
Samsung bumped the 3x telephoto camera from 10MP to 12MP. That’s it. That’s the hardware upgrade. 12MP S5K3LD. It takes slightly sharper photos when you zoom in 3x. You’ll notice it when cropping photos or zooming into details. 50MP JN3 ultrawide camera. 50MP IMX854 5x periscope zoom. 12MP selfie camera.
Software Does the Heavy Lifting
Samsung’s betting big on AI this year. The 200MP camera hardware stays the same, but the software gets smarter. Better object removal ,Delete people or objects from photos in seconds. Smart photo editing ,The phone suggests edits based on what’s in your picture. Real time scene optimization,Camera adjusts settings automatically before you even press the button.
4. Design Overhaul with Rounded Edges
The Galaxy S26 Ultra design changes in ways some people will love and others will hate. Samsung’s making the phone thinner, lighter, and curvier. The S26 Ultra thickness drops to under 8mm from the S25 Ultra’s 8.2mm.
That doesn’t sound like much, but you’ll feel it in your hand. Weight drops too. The phone weighs less than 218 grams. Pick it up and it feels noticeably lighter than before.
The Rounded Corner Debate
For years, Galaxy Ultra phones had sharp, boxy corners. That made them easy to grip. It gave them a unique look. The corners are getting rounded. More like an iPhone. Some people are mad about this. They say Samsung’s copying Apple. They liked the sharp design.
It made the Ultra feel different from every other phone. Less likely to poke your palm. Easier to slide in and out of pockets. Samsung’s betting most people prefer comfort over sharp edges.
Bigger Screen in a Similar Body
The S26 Ultra display grows from 6.8 inches to 6.9 inches. That’s more screen in almost the same phone size. Thinner bezels around the edges. The actual body dimensions are 162.8 x 77.6mm.
Barely bigger than the S25 Ultra, but you get more screen to look at.Peak brightness might hit 3,000 nits. That would make it the brightest phone screen ever made. You’ll see your screen clearly even in direct sunlight. Most phones cap out around 2,000 nits.
Thinner Means Trade-Offs
Thinner phones mean less room for batteries and cooling systems. Samsung kept the battery at 5,000mAh. But a thinner body means less space for heat to spread out when you’re gaming or recording video. S26 model gets even thinner at just 6.9mm. The Ultra stays a bit thicker because of that massive camera system.
5. Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Charging
The Galaxy S26 Ultra wireless charging finally catches up to iPhones. Samsung’s building Qi2 magnetic charging right into the phone. No accessories required. The magnets are built into the back of the phone. Your phone snaps perfectly onto chargers every single time. No more adjusting your phone on a charging pad at 2am because it’s not lined up right.
How Qi2 Works And Why It Matters ?
Think of Qi2 wireless charging like MagSafe on iPhones. Magnets in your phone connect to magnets in the charger. They pull together automatically. Perfect alignment every time. The Galaxy S26 Ultra wireless charging still runs at 15W.
A full wireless charge takes about 2 hours. That’s slower than plugging in, but that’s not the point. You’re not using wireless charging for speed. You’re using it for convenience. Qi2 is also 38% more efficient than old wireless charging. Less energy wasted as heat. Your phone stays cooler while charging. Your electric bill goes down a tiny bit.
What You Can Do With Magnetic Charging ?
Car mounts become stupid simple. Slap your phone on a magnetic mount. It sticks. No clips, no holders, no fumbling while you drive. Charging stands work better too. Put your phone on your desk stand and it clicks into place. Watch videos while it charges. Make video calls hands free.
Battery packs get easier. Magnetic power banks stick to the back of your phone. Walk around while charging. No cables dangling from your pocket.Samsung already released new Qi2 chargers priced at $85. That’s expensive, but it suggests the S26 Ultra will definitely support them. Third party options will be cheaper.
The Trade Off Nobody Wants
S26 Ultra might lose reverse wireless charging. That’s the feature where you use your phone to charge other devices. Your earbuds. Your friend’s phone. Your smartwatch. Samsung hasn’t confirmed this yet. But adding Qi2 magnets takes up space inside the phone. Something had to go. Reverse charging might be it.
