Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: The Ultimate Flagship Arrives in India

So I've been using this thing for about two weeks now, and the first thing I want to say — before we get into specs or benchmarks or any of that — is that the flat edges on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra actually make a difference when you're holding it on a crowded Mumbai local. I'm not even joking. The S25 Ultra was already better than those curved-screen days, but this one? It just sits in your hand. You're not worried about palm rejection, you're not accidentally tapping stuff while hanging onto a handle with the other hand. Small thing, maybe. But that's where I noticed it first.

Anyway. Let me back up a bit.

Samsung launched the Galaxy S26 Ultra in India in late February 2026, and the pricing starts at Rs 1,34,999 for the 12GB/256GB variant. The 512GB model will set you back Rs 1,44,999, and the 1TB version — which is the one Samsung sent me — goes for Rs 1,64,999. Yeah, it's expensive. We'll talk about whether it's worth it later. Maybe.

First Impressions and That Display

When I unboxed this at my desk, my colleague walked over and said "that looks exactly like the S25 Ultra." And honestly? From a distance, sure. Samsung hasn't done anything wild with the design language. Same titanium frame, same general shape. But pick it up and you notice the weight distribution is different — slightly lighter overall at 218 grams, down from 232 grams on the S25 Ultra. Doesn't sound like much on paper. In real life, after an hour of scrolling through Instagram reels, your pinky finger notices.

The display though. Oh man.

Samsung's calling it a "Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 3X" panel, which is marketing-speak, sure, but the result is genuinely impressive. 6.9-inch, 3120 x 1440 resolution, and now it goes up to 144Hz. The S25 Ultra was capped at 120Hz. Can I tell the difference between 120Hz and 144Hz? Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference in most situations. Scrolling through Twitter — sorry, X — felt maybe a tiny bit smoother? But I'm not 100% sure about this. It could be placebo. Where I did notice it was in gaming, specifically in BGMI, where the higher refresh option is now available. That felt noticeably better.

Peak brightness is listed at 3200 nits. In direct Chennai summer sunlight (and yes, I was there for a couple of days visiting family — absolute furnace in March), the screen was readable. Not perfect, but readable. The S25 Ultra was already good at this. The S26 Ultra is maybe 10-15% better? Hard to quantify without instruments, but I could see my WhatsApp messages without squinting quite as hard.

The Camera System — And Why I Have Mixed Feelings

Okay, so cameras. This is where Samsung is putting most of its marketing energy, and I get why. The main sensor is now a 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HP3 (upgraded from the HP2 on the S25 Ultra), and the results are... interesting. Let me explain what I mean by that.

In good light — like, golden hour at Marine Drive, or a well-lit restaurant — the photos from this thing are absolutely stunning. There's a level of detail that makes you zoom in and go "wait, I can read that sign three blocks away." The pixel-binning to 12.5MP still happens by default, and those shots have fantastic dynamic range. Colours are punchy without being Samsung-level-oversaturated like the old days. They've really dialed that back over the past few generations.

But here's where my mixed feelings come in.

Night photography. Samsung's been hyping up their AI-powered "Night Master" processing, and in some scenes, yes, it's brilliant. I took a photo of a Diwali-decorated balcony from across the street and the lights, the shadows, the details — all great. But in really low light, like a poorly lit lane in Chandni Chowk where I was wandering around one evening, the processing sometimes goes overboard. Edges get weirdly sharp, skin tones on people walking by look slightly artificial. It's not bad exactly. It's just... you can tell the AI is working hard. And sometimes working hard isn't the same as working well.

The 5x optical zoom (using the 50MP periscope telephoto) is still one of the best in the business. I was at a friend's kid's annual day function at their school, sitting way in the back, and the zoom shots of the stage were surprisingly usable. Even the 10x shots were decent. Beyond that, at 30x or the ridiculous 100x Space Zoom, it's more of a party trick. Fun to show people, not something you'd actually use for anything serious.

The ultrawide camera is now 16MP — wait, no, I need to double check this. Let me look at the spec sheet again. Yeah, 16MP ultrawide with autofocus, which is nice for macro shots too. The macro mode has improved, actually. I took some close-ups of street food in Connaught Place — golgappe, specifically — and the detail was impressive enough that I posted it on my Instagram and people were asking what camera I used.

Video capabilities

8K video at 30fps is still here, and now there's 4K at 120fps which is new. The stabilization at 4K 60fps is noticeably better than last year. I recorded a bunch of footage while walking through Lajpat Nagar market — dodging autos, people, stray dogs — and the footage was remarkably stable. The audio recording has also improved; Samsung says they're using AI to isolate voices from background noise, and in a noisy environment like a Delhi market, that actually works reasonably well. Not perfectly. You'll still hear horns and chatter. But the primary speaker's voice comes through clearer.

The front camera is 12MP now with improved autofocus, and video calls on Google Meet and Zoom looked noticeably sharper than on my old S24 Ultra. My mom said I "looked clearer" on our weekly video call, so take that as an anecdotal data point.

S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra: Quick Comparison

Looking at that table, you might think the upgrade from S25 Ultra to S26 Ultra isn't massive. And... you wouldn't be entirely wrong. More on that later.

Performance and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 (for Galaxy) is a beast. I'm just going to say that upfront. Qualcomm and Samsung have clearly worked together on optimizing this chip for the Galaxy series, and it shows. AnTuTu scores are crossing 24 lakh (24,00,000+), which is absurd if you think about where phone benchmarks were even two years ago.

But benchmarks don't tell the real story, do they?

In daily use, everything is instant. App switching, multitasking with three apps in split screen, running Genshin Impact at highest settings — the phone doesn't even get warm. Well, okay, that's not entirely true. It does get a little warm during extended gaming sessions, like 30-40 minutes of Genshin. But we're talking "oh this is slightly warm" not "oh god I'm going to burn my hands." The vapour chamber cooling inside is doing its job. I played BGMI for about an hour during a train ride from Delhi to Jaipur (Vande Bharat, love that train by the way) and the phone stayed manageable throughout.

The 16GB RAM variant is the one I'd recommend if you can swing it. With the 12GB model, I'm sure it's fine for most people, but the 16GB variant handles heavy multitasking without any app refreshes. I had Chrome with about 25 tabs open (don't judge me), WhatsApp, Telegram, Spotify, Google Maps, and a couple of other apps running, and nothing got killed in the background. That's the Samsung RAM management story finally being good, combined with the extra memory.

Battery Life — Finally, Some Real Progress

Okay this is the section I've been wanting to write because Samsung finally listened. 5500 mAh. FIVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED. On the S25 Ultra, I was getting through a full day with maybe 15-20% left by bedtime. On the S26 Ultra, I'm consistently ending the day with 30-40% remaining. And my usage is pretty heavy — lots of social media, some photography, about an hour of navigation with Google Maps, and maybe 30 minutes of gaming.

Screen-on time is averaging around 8-9 hours for me, which is genuinely impressive for a phone with a display this large and bright. On lighter usage days — mostly just messaging, calls, some browsing — I've stretched it to nearly 11 hours of screen-on time before hitting 15%.

And the charging speed bump to 65W makes a noticeable difference. I timed it a few times:

• 0% to 50% in about 22 minutes
• 0% to 100% in approximately 52 minutes
• The old 45W charging on the S25 Ultra took about 65 minutes for a full charge

Samsung still doesn't include a charger in the box, which continues to be annoying. You'll want a 65W compatible USB-PD charger. I picked one up from Amazon India for about Rs 1,800 — a Samsung original one. There are third-party options for Rs 800-1000 from brands like Portronics and Ambrane that should work fine too, but I haven't personally tested those.

Wireless charging is still 15W, which feels slow compared to what OnePlus and others are doing. If Samsung bumped this to 25-30W, that would've been nice. But it is what it is.

One UI 8.0 and the Galaxy AI Stuff

Let's talk software. One UI 8.0 runs on Android 16, and Samsung is promising 7 years of OS updates and security patches. So theoretically, this phone will get updates until 2033. That's pretty wild to think about. Whether the hardware will hold up that long is another question.

The Galaxy AI features are... okay, so here's the thing. Some of them are genuinely useful. Some of them feel like Samsung is trying to justify the AI marketing hype.

The useful ones:

• Circle to Search: Still great. I use this almost daily. See something interesting on screen, circle it, get results. Works with text, images, products. Tried it on a kurta I saw in someone's Instagram story and it found similar ones on Myntra and Ajio. Actually helpful.
• Live Translate during calls: This has improved massively. I tested it with a Hindi-to-English translation during a call with a vendor who was more comfortable in Hindi, and while it wasn't perfect, it was surprisingly close. The delay has gotten shorter — maybe 1-2 seconds now compared to the 3-4 seconds it took on the S25 Ultra.
• Note Assist and Transcript Assist: If you record meetings or lectures, the transcription quality has gone up. I recorded a 45-minute tech meetup session and the transcript was about 85-90% accurate, which is quite good for a mixed Hindi-English conversation (the classic Hinglish that we all speak).
• Photo Ambient Wallpaper: This is new — the phone generates wallpapers based on your recent photos and the time of day. It's fun but not exactly life-changing. I turned it off after a week because it was using my photo of butter chicken as a wallpaper aesthetic and that was... a choice.

The less useful ones:

• Chat Assist tone suggestions: It suggests how to rewrite your messages in different tones. I don't need a phone telling me how to text my friends, thanks.
• AI-generated photo edits: The "Sketch to Image" and "Generative Edit" stuff is cool as a demo, but in practice I've used it maybe three times in two weeks. It feels like a feature designed for keynote presentations, not real life.

One UI 8.0 itself is smoother than 7. Animations feel more polished. The notification shade has been redesigned slightly — the quick toggles are more accessible now. The Settings app is still a labyrinth though. Some things never change. I spent five minutes trying to find the display resolution setting the other day. It was under Display > Screen Resolution, which is logical I suppose, but the Settings app has so many layers that you end up scrolling forever.

S Pen — Still Here, Still Useful (For Some)

The S Pen is still built into the phone, still has Bluetooth connectivity, and now has some new AI-powered tricks. You can draw a rough sketch and Galaxy AI will turn it into something presentable. I drew a terrible cat and it turned it into a slightly less terrible cat. Progress, I guess.

For note-taking, the S Pen is as good as ever. The latency feels nearly zero now — Samsung claims under 2ms. I use it for quick meeting notes and signing PDFs, and for those tasks, it's perfectly fine. If you're someone who never used the S Pen, the S26 Ultra isn't going to change your mind. But if you do use it, the improvements are welcome.

I will say this — I was at the Samsung Opera House store in Bangalore last month (went for something else entirely, ended up playing with phones for an hour like we all do), and the staff was demo-ing the S Pen AI features to a customer. The customer seemed genuinely impressed. But I wonder how many people will use these features regularly after the initial novelty wears off. My gut says not many.

What About Connectivity and Misc Stuff

Wi-Fi 7 support is here, though to actually benefit from it you need a Wi-Fi 7 router, which most of us in India don't have yet. I tested it on a regular Wi-Fi 6E setup at home and speeds were comparable to the S25 Ultra. Bluetooth 5.4 is standard now. The UWB (Ultra-Wideband) chip is still present for those SmartTag scenarios.

5G works on all major Indian bands. I tested it on Jio and Airtel in Delhi and Mumbai, and speeds were fine — typically 200-400 Mbps on Jio 5G in areas with good coverage. Nothing dramatically different from the S25 Ultra in this regard.

The stereo speakers are excellent. Tuned by AKG, just like before, and they get plenty loud. I was watching the latest season of Panchayat on Amazon Prime and the dialogue clarity was really good even without headphones. Not a substitute for proper speakers obviously, but for phone speakers, these are among the best you'll find.

IP68 water resistance means you don't have to panic if you get caught in a Mumbai monsoon downpour. I deliberately used the phone in light rain a couple of times (I know it's March, but Delhi has been having weird weather this year — random showers out of nowhere) and it was perfectly fine. Wouldn't take it swimming though.

A Quick Word About Heating

I mentioned gaming earlier, but let me address this specifically because it was a concern with Snapdragon chips in India. Our ambient temperatures in summer can easily hit 42-45 degrees in North India. I haven't been able to test the S26 Ultra in peak summer yet (it's only early March), but based on my experience so far, heat management is better than the S25 Ultra. The phone throttles less during sustained loads. During a 45-minute Genshin Impact session in a room at about 28 degrees (no AC — testing the limits here), the back got warm but performance stayed consistent. No frame drops, no stuttering. I'll update this if things change when May/June rolls around, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

The Pricing Problem — And Who Should Buy This

Alright, so here's where things get complicated. And I'm genuinely torn on this, so I'll just share my thinking and you can decide for yourself.

At Rs 1,34,999, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is Rs 5,000 more than the S25 Ultra was at launch. That's not a huge jump, but it continues the trend of flagships getting more expensive every year. Now, Samsung always has launch offers — this time it's a free storage upgrade (so you get the 512GB at the 256GB price if you pre-order), plus some exchange bonuses on Flipkart and Samsung's own store. With a decent exchange (like an S23 Ultra or S24 Ultra), you can bring the effective price down to Rs 85,000-95,000 range, which is more palatable.

But let's be real about the competition.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max isn't out yet (expected September), so right now in the Android space, the S26 Ultra's main competitors are the OnePlus 13 Pro (around Rs 69,999) and the Google Pixel 10 Pro (around Rs 94,999 when it launches). The OnePlus gives you most of the performance at literally half the price. The Pixel will give you a better pure camera experience in many scenarios, arguably better software, and costs less. Samsung's advantages are the S Pen, the zoom camera system, and the display quality — all of which are genuine advantages, to be fair.

Here's who I think should buy the S26 Ultra:

• If you're on an S23 Ultra or older: Yes, the upgrade is worth it. The jump in performance, camera quality, battery life, and software support is significant. Go for it, especially with exchange offers.
• If you're on an S24 Ultra: Probably worth it. The battery improvement alone might justify it for heavy users, and the camera processing is noticeably better.
• If you're on an S25 Ultra: I'd say skip it. The improvements are real but incremental. Unless you absolutely need the 144Hz display or the extra 500 mAh battery, your S25 Ultra is doing just fine. Save your money for the S27 Ultra.
• If you're coming from another brand entirely: The S26 Ultra is the most complete Android phone you can buy right now. Whether it's worth the premium over something like the OnePlus 13 Pro depends on how much you value the camera zoom, the S Pen, and the Samsung ecosystem (watch, buds, tablets all working together).

The Things That Still Annoy Me

No review is complete without a complaints section, right? So here are mine.

First, the charger situation. At Rs 1.35 lakh, include a charger. I know Apple started this trend and everyone followed, but it's been years now and it still irritates me. Especially with the new 65W speed — most people's existing chargers won't push 65W, so you're basically forced to buy a new one. At least throw in a basic 25W one. Something.

Second, Samsung's bloatware situation has improved over the years but it's still not clean. You get the Microsoft suite pre-installed (Outlook, OneDrive, LinkedIn), plus Samsung's own duplicate apps for everything. Two browsers (Samsung Internet and Chrome), two app stores (Galaxy Store and Play Store), two voice assistants (Bixby and Gemini, though at least Bixby is more backgrounded now). On a Rs 1.35 lakh phone, give me a clean experience.

Third, the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is fast, but it's not always reliable with wet fingers. Given that this is a phone many people will use with slightly sweaty hands in Indian summers, or right after washing hands, this is a real-world annoyance. Face unlock works as a backup, but it's not as secure since it's not 3D depth-based.

Fourth — and this is minor — the phone is slippery without a case. The titanium frame looks beautiful but it slides off any surface that isn't perfectly flat. I've had two minor heart attacks watching it slowly slide across my desk. Get a case. Samsung's official ones are nice but expensive (Rs 2,500 - Rs 4,000 for a basic clear case). Plenty of good third-party options on Amazon for Rs 300-500.

So... Is It Worth It?

I keep going back and forth on this, honestly. Part of me wants to say "absolutely, this is the best Android phone money can buy in India right now" — and that's true. It IS the best. The screen, the cameras, the battery life, the performance, the software support, the S Pen. No other Android phone offers all of this in one package.

But another part of me thinks about how my friend bought a OnePlus 13 Pro for Rs 70,000 and is perfectly happy with it. Does great photos, buttery smooth, charges in 30 minutes, looks fantastic. Is the Galaxy S26 Ultra really Rs 65,000 better? That's the price of a decent budget phone on top.

I think the answer depends on what kind of buyer you are. If you're the type who wants the absolute best, who uses the zoom camera regularly, who appreciates the S Pen, who's deep in the Samsung ecosystem — then yeah, the S26 Ultra delivers. It's a fantastic phone. Genuinely top-tier in every category.

If you're more of a "good enough is good enough" person who just wants a great phone experience without spending 1.35 lakh — there are excellent options at half the price that will make you happy.

What I can say with confidence is that the S26 Ultra is a meaningful upgrade over the S24 Ultra and earlier. The battery life improvement alone changes the daily experience. The camera processing is smarter (even if sometimes too smart for its own good in low light). The display is gorgeous. Performance is unmatched.

For S25 Ultra owners... I don't know. I really don't. If I were in that position, I'd probably wait. But I also understand the temptation. That 65W charging speed is really nice after years of Samsung being slow about this.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Starting at Rs 1,34,999 | Available on Flipkart, Amazon India, Samsung India Store
Review unit provided by Samsung India. All opinions expressed are my own.

I'll probably do a follow-up piece after a month or so of use, especially once the summer heat kicks in and I can properly test how this chip handles 45-degree Delhi afternoons. Also want to spend more time with the camera in different conditions — weddings, travel, that sort of thing. There's a family wedding in Udaipur coming up in April, so that should be a good test for the camera system.

For now, if you're in the market for a flagship and you've got the budget, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is hard to beat. It's just... you know. It's also hard to justify when perfectly good phones exist at half the price. That tension isn't going away anytime soon, and Samsung knows it. Whether they'll do anything about it with the S27 Ultra pricing remains to be seen.

Anyway. That's where I'm at. Take it for what it's worth.