Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The new phone may look just like its predecessor at first sight, but under the hood, it has a significantly faster Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. In case you are confused whether to go with Samsung’s year-old flagship or upgrade to the newly launched device, here’s a quick comparison between the two that will help you make the decision.

In terms of design, not much has changed this year. Like its predecessor, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a flat display and comes with curved edges, which makes it easy to keep the phone in your pocket.

While both phones look the same from the front, the biggest design change is the rear camera module. Unlike the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which had individual camera sensors aligned vertically, the newly launched Galaxy S26 Ultra features an elliptical-shaped camera island.

And while the new phone does not come with a Bluetooth-enabled S-Pen like last year, Samsung has somehow managed to make its new flagship slimmer and slightly lighter.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch AMOLED screen, which is the same size as last year. However, the new phone comes with the company’s latest M14 OLED panel, which is the same as the one found on the iQOO 15.

Not only is the screen brighter and more colour-accurate than before, but it also features what Samsung calls “Privacy Display”. To give you a quick recap, this is similar to the aftermarket screen guards which prevent others from looking at what’s on your screen.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, which is significantly faster than last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. Both the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Ultra won’t lag if all you do is browse the internet, make calls, use apps, or play games. However, the main difference between the two is that the new chipset offers 14 per cent and 29 per cent more performance in single-core and multi-core tasks.

This is really helpful if you are someone who runs AI models, plays games via emulation or often finds themselves editing videos on the go.

Talking of software, the Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16 out of the box. While its predecessor will get the same update in the coming months, one advantage the new phone has over the old one is that it will get an additional year of OS updates.

For reasons unknown, Samsung has decided to stick with the same camera setup as last year.

What it means is that the Galaxy S26 Ultra, like its predecessor, comes with a quad camera setup that consists of a 200MP primary camera, a 50MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, another 10MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom and a 50MP ultrawide lens.

In terms of hardware, both phones have the same sensor, but Samsung might improve the overall camera experience using software.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra had a 5,000mAh battery, and the new phone has the same battery pack as well. However, Samsung seems to have increased the charging speed a bit, claiming that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is capable of reaching 75 per cent in just 30 minutes. Wireless and reverse charging speeds are also the same.

If you are looking for a more capable chipset and find the new Privacy Display feature important, the Galaxy S26 Ultra might turn out to be a good upgrade. However, most people can live without the slight performance bump, meaning the Galaxy S25 Ultra will be a good option in 2026.