Oppo Find X9 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: The Android flagships compared

As Oppo has announced its latest flagship, we’re interested to see how it compares to Samsung’s own.

We’ve compared the specs of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and noted the main differences, and any noteworthy similarities, between the two Android flagships below.

Keep reading to learn more about the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and how it compares to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. You should also visit our Oppo Find X9 Ultra vs Find X9 Pro comparison to see the differences between the latest Oppo Find series, while our best smartphone guide lists all our current favourites.

Price and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is available to buy now, with a starting price of £1279/$1299 for the smallest 256GB handset. You can order the phone with up to 1TB of storage, however that will set you back £1699/$1699.

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Oppo Find X9 Ultra has five rear cameras

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is fitted with a new-generation Hasselblad Master Camera System, which is made up of five rear lenses. There are dual Hasselblad 200MP lenses, which includes an ultra-sensing main lens with a Sony 1/1.12-inch LYTIA 901 sensor alongside a 3x ultra-sensing telephoto lens which actually boasts the largest sensor of its kind.

Then there are two 50MP cameras, including an ultrawide and a 10x optical-zoom telephoto which can see up to 20x optical zoom – an industry first. Finally, the four lenses are flanked by a new-gen True Color Camera which promises natural colour rendition.

In addition, the Find X9 Ultra is fitted with Oppo’s “most advanced cinematic capabilities to date”, and can not only deliver 4K60fps Dolby Vision HDR recording, but also captures 4K120fps via the Dual Hasselblad 200MP cameras too.

In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra sports four rear sensors that are largely unchanged from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. In fact, the fact Samsung hasn’t made any major tweaks to the S26 Ultra’s hardware is perhaps one of our biggest gripes, as the set-up is starting to age – especially when compared to the likes of the Find X9 Ultra.

Even so, thanks to its 200MP main lens, 50MP periscope, 50MP ultrawide and 10MP 3x telephoto lenses, the S26 Ultra can undoubtedly take a brilliant picture. Throughout our time with the handset, we found pictures across most lighting conditions looking detailed and vibrant. So, although it’s starting to feel a bit dated, we think most users would struggle to be disappointed by the S26 Ultra’s photography ability.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a built-in privacy display

One of the headline features of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the fact it boasts a privacy display. It’s actually the first phone ever to sport a built-in privacy display that’s controlled at a pixel level. 

When enabled, the privacy display will hide itself when it’s viewed at certain angles, which means although you’ll be able to see it clearly when face-on, the person next to you won’t. You can customise the level of privacy too, either by setting the display to hide itself on a per-app basis, or you can just block out specific areas of the screen instead.

Otherwise, the S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate and QHD+ resolution. Although, much like its camera hardware, it hasn’t changed much in recent years, the S26 Ultra’s display remains one of the best.

While the Find X9 Ultra doesn’t boast the same privacy display, that’s not to say it isn’t a feature packed panel. Slightly smaller than the S26 Ultra at 6.82-inches, the Find X9 Ultra’s display can reach 144Hz and also boasts a QHD+ resolution too. Plus, Oppo explains its Display P3 Pro chip is present here and works to deliver “industry-leading” colour accuracy while optimising power and eliminating motion blur too.

Oppo Find X9 Ultra has a larger battery

Unlike other smartphone manufacturers, Samsung doesn’t tend to pack its smartphones with mighty batteries. In fact, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is equipped with a pretty average-sounding 5000mAh cell, while the cheaper Galaxy S26 sports a teeny 4300mAh battery.

In comparison, the Find X9 Ultra boasts one of the largest batteries currently available, with a massive 7050mAh capacity. It’s not quite as high as the Find X9 Pro, but it certainly knocks the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra out.

Despite this hefty discrepancy, it’s worth noting that the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers a perfectly fine battery life. It’s not quite a two-day phone, but it should see you through a full day before needing to be plugged in (of course, this will depend on how you’re using your device).

Oppo AI vs Galaxy AI

AI is almost a guarantee in flagship smartphones now, and neither the Find X9 Ultra nor the Galaxy S26 Ultra are exceptions to this. However, Samsung’s Galaxy AI toolkit is arguably more well-established compared to Oppo’s own.

In fact, Galaxy AI is equipped with plenty of features including access to Gemini, photo editing tools and the upgraded Circle to Search. Plus, the Galaxy S26 series introduced new features including Now Nudge for real-time suggestions based on what’s happening on screen, and Call Screen which automatically answers calls from unknown numbers to see why they’re calling.

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra also has access to Google’s Gemini, which many of the best Androids do, alongside the likes of AI Mind Space which is accessible via the Snap Key and organises anything on screen. There’s also AI Menu Translation that promises to generate a “rich, visual guide of foreign dishes” to make ordering food abroad easier. 

Both run on Qualcomm’s flagship chip

Although both the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra run on a flagship Qualcomm chip, they differ slightly in their exact offerings. While the Find X9 Ultra runs on the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by a custom version of the chip. Coined Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, the chip was designed in collaboration between Qualcomm and Samsung.

Either way, you’re not likely to notice much of a difference between the custom and standard chip iteration, and both chips offer a seriously rapid performance. Whether you’re scrolling social media, streaming or even gaming, we’ve found that both iterations of Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 can handle anything you throw at it.

Early Verdict

Although the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a solid camera set-up, it’s largely unchanged from its predecessors and feels pretty dated as a result. With this in mind, if you’re looking for a more versatile camera phone that’s equipped with a powerful processor and one of the biggest batteries available, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra seems like a promising recommendation.

On the other hand, if you’re more of a casual snapper and want to play around with AI smarts, and will especially appreciate the built-in privacy display, then the Galaxy S26 Ultra remains a great choice.