Is it time to upgrade?

Although it may only feel like yesterday, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is now two years old and has been succeeded by both the S25 Ultra and, more recently, the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

So what’s really new with the Galaxy S26 Ultra in comparison to its older sibling? Are there enough changes to warrant an upgrade?

To help you decide, we’ve compared the specs of the Galaxy S26 Ultra to the Galaxy S24 Ultra and noted the key changes that Samsung has made with its top-end flagship. 

You should also visit our Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Galaxy S25 Ultra, to see how the smartphone has evolved since last year’s launch, while Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Honor Magic 8 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra vs iPhone 17 Pro Max compares Samsung’s flagship with Honor and Apple’s own alternatives. 

Otherwise, for more of an overview check out our best smartphones guide.

Price and Availability

Along with the rest of the Galaxy S26 series, the Galaxy S26 Ultra can be pre-ordered now ahead of its official launch on March 11th. Starting at £1279/$1279, you can nab the handset in a choice of four colours: Black, White, Sky Blue or Cobalt Violet. There are also a couple of Samsung-exclusive colours too, including Pink Gold and Silver Shadow.

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Unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is no longer available to buy directly from Samsung’s official store. However, you can still nab the handset from third party retailers in both new and refurbished condition. The price will vary depending on the retailer and condition you opt for, as we’ve seen prices range from as little as £550 up to around £800.

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Galaxy S26 Ultra is thinner and lighter

Not only is the Galaxy S26 Ultra thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it actually boasts the title of being the thinnest Ultra ever. It may not be as thin as the Galaxy S25 Edge, but at just 7.9mm it’s noticeably more agile in hand compared to the 8.6mm thick Galaxy S24 Ultra.

In addition, the Galaxy S26 Ultra weighs just 214g whereas the Galaxy S24 Ultra weighs 232g. However, the reason for this difference is due to the materials Samsung has used. While the Galaxy S24 Ultra sports a premium titanium frame, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has the same Armour Aluminium as the rest of the S26 range. Even so, we still found the Galaxy S26 Ultra retains the premium feel that the Ultra models are known for.

Different custom Snapdragon chips

Both the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra are fitted with custom versions of Qualcomm chips. While the Galaxy S24 Ultra runs on the 2024 Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, which was Qualcomm’s flagship chip at the time, the Galaxy S26 Ultra uses Qualcomm’s current top-end chip: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. 

As the Galaxy S24 Ultra was among the first to sport Samsung’s Galaxy AI toolkit, its chip needed to be powerful enough to ensure on-device AI ran as smoothly as possible. Fortunately, we concluded that to be the case with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. Not only did we find the likes of Circle to Search and Live Translation ran well, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra itself felt rapid in everyday use too. 

While we haven’t tested the Galaxy S26 Ultra yet, Qualcomm’s default Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip is behind many of the best Android phones of 2026 and offers seriously fast and powerful performance. Even during intensive tasks like video editing or gaming, we’ve rarely noticed any slowdown with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. With this in mind, we expect the Galaxy S26 Ultra to offer a similar impressive performance.

Plus, naturally the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be fitted with Galaxy AI features alongside some new additions like Now Nudge which provides suggestions based on what you’re doing on screen. 

Galaxy S26 Ultra has a privacy display

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is slightly larger than the S24 Ultra, measuring in at 6.9-inches compared to 6.82-inches. And that’s not where the differences end. In fact, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the first smartphone ever to sport a privacy display.

Essentially, the privacy display hides itself when it’s viewed at certain angles. That means although you’ll be able to perfectly see your content, prying eyes sitting next to you won’t. You can even adjust the level of privacy too, by either setting it on a per-app basis or by only blocking out specific areas on the screen. Or you can simply turn it off altogether.

This, combined with anti-reflective screen tech taken from the Galaxy S25 Ultra and Gorilla Armour 2 protection means the Galaxy S26 Ultra looks set to boast one of the best smartphone screens. Of course, we’ll need to spend more time with the phone before confirming this, but we’re certainly excited.

However, do keep in mind that the two are fitted with many of the same premium screen technologies including LTPO-enabled 1-120Hz refresh rate, QHD+ resolution and S-Pen support.

Galaxy S26 Ultra promises faster charging

Battery prowess has never been high on Samsung’s list of priorities and, though the Galaxy S26 Ultra has some welcome improvements over the S24 Ultra, it still doesn’t quite match up to the likes of the OnePlus 15 or Oppo Find X9 Pro’s post-7000mAh batteries. 

Even so, we found the Galaxy S24 Ultra was easily an all-day device – in fact, we concluded that we’d end 16-hour days with around 50 to 60% left in the tank. While its 45W wired charging support isn’t particularly speedy, it still managed to get from 1-100% in just over 70 minutes.

Although we’re yet to test the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s battery prowess, Samsung has upgraded the wired charging speed up to 60W. This, according to Samsung, means the S26 Ultra will take just 30 minutes to reach 75%. It’s a welcome improvement at least, but the phone still falls short from many of the best Android phones.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s camera has had a slight tweak

Samsung’s Ultra handsets have repeatedly made their way into our best camera phones guide, and we expect this tradition will continue with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Rather than a complete overhaul, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has made a few camera hardware improvements from the Galaxy S24 Ultra. 

The biggest noticeable difference is the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 50MP ultrawide lens whereas the Galaxy S24 Ultra sports a 12MP ultrawide instead. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s ultrawide lens might sound pretty average compared to the S26 Ultra, however it does do a solid job in good lighting conditions. However, we did find it let itself down when we tried to take photos at night.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 50MP ultrawide was actually first introduced with Galaxy S25 Ultra. We found that the biggest difference with the 50MP ultrawide was its ability to capture photos in darker conditions, so we expect to see the same results with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Otherwise both handsets sport 200MP wide, 50MP and 10MP telephoto lenses, although Samsung has made some tweaks with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Essentially, Samsung promises the wide lens now has a 47% brighter aperture while the 50MP telephoto should offer 37% improvement in brightness too.

Early Verdict

Although it isn’t a complete overhaul, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is fitted with plenty of improvements that make it a more appealing option over the Galaxy S24 Ultra. These tweaks include, but aren’t limited to, faster charging, a more capable camera and the latest top-end Qualcomm chip too. 

Having said that, that’s not to say the Galaxy S24 Ultra has aged poorly. In fact, it remains a brilliant option that offers speedy performance, a still solid camera set-up and decent battery life too – all for a much lower price. 

At this stage, we’d suggest that if you do want the best of the best, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is an easy recommendation. However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is still a great smartphone that still works admirably.