Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs S24 Ultra: 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

Starting at £1279/$1279, you can nab the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 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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Design

• Galaxy S26 Ultra sports rounded corners while the S24 Ultra’s are sharper
• The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s thinnest Ultra model, at just 7.9mm thick
• Although the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s titanium frame was once seen as more premium, the S26 Ultra reverts back to aluminum

Although the Galaxy S26 Ultra looks pretty similar to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, there’s a clear difference when compared to the S24 Ultra. Firstly, although both have flat screens, the S26 Ultra sports rounded corners while the S24 Ultra’s are sharper. 

The S26 Ultra is also lighter and thinner than the S24 Ultra, at 214g and 7.9mm thick compared to 232g and 8.6mm. Even so, we should note that both Ultra handsets feel comfortable in-hand. 

Another key difference between the two is with their respective materials. While the S24 Ultra sports a titanium finish, the S26 Ultra actually reverts back to aluminium, which housed the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This may seem like a downgrade, however it’s actually because titanium tends to get too hot and cause throttling. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Screen

• The S26 Ultra has a larger display at 6.9-inches
• Privacy Display is an exclusive to the S26 Ultra and hides the screen from prying eyes
• Otherwise, both sport an AMOLED panel, QHD+ resolution and a 1-120Hz refresh rate
• S Pen is present with both

Both the S26 Ultra and S24 Ultra are equipped with plenty of premium screen technologies, including an AMOLED panel, LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate and a QHD+ resolution. Together, these technologies make both phones a pleasure to use for the likes of everyday tasks, gaming and streaming too.

However, the S26 Ultra’s display is slightly larger at 6.9-inches, while the S24 Ultra’s is 6.82-inches. The difference is arguably negligible, as both are definitely considered to be larger handsets, but you could argue the S24 Ultra is slightly easier to use one-handed than the S26 Ultra. 

The biggest difference, however, with the two handsets is that the S26 Ultra boasts the new Privacy Display. The built-in technology makes the screen invisible from different viewing angles, while ensuring you can still see it clearly when facing it straight on. It’s customisable too, and can be set on a per-app basis or when you receive notifications.

Finally, although both are fitted with Gorilla Glass protection, the S26 Ultra benefits from Gorilla Armour 2 which is both scratch-resistant and anti-reflective too. On the other hand, the S24 Ultra makes do with Gorilla Armour instead. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

S26 Ultra Privacy Display Off
S26 Ultra Privacy Display On

Camera

• Both are fitted with four rear lenses, including a 200MP main camera
• S26 Ultra sees some welcome improvements over the S24 Ultra, including a higher-res ultrawide
• Both support Samsung’s Galaxy AI photo editing tools

Although there are a few notable differences between the S26 Ultra and S24 Ultra’s camera hardware, we should disclaim that Samsung hasn’t quite overhauled the newer handset.

Firstly, the S26 Ultra is fitted with a 200MP main sensor that’s supported by 50MP ultrawide, 50MP periscope and 10MP 3x telephoto lenses. In comparison, the S24 Ultra sports a 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 50MP periscope 5x and 10MP 5x telephoto set-up. 

Samsung promises that the S26 Ultra’s main and periscope sensors have wider apertures to boost light intake (f/1.4 and f/2.9 respectively). Even so, we should state that we were impressed with both handsets’ main and periscope sensors, with the S24 Ultra’s especially praised for capturing bright and vibrant images, even when zoomed in. 

Although the 50MP vs 12MP ultrawide difference might sound pretty jarring, again we should note that the S24 Ultra still did a solid job in good lighting conditions – although it did struggle more at night. 

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

One area where we are particularly impressed with the S26 Ultra’s camera is with its image processing. While Samsung is known for its tendency to over-saturate images, the S26 Ultra tones things done a bit. Don’t get us wrong, photos still boast that social media-esque finish, but they look more natural than before. 

Finally, both the Galaxy Ultra phones sport Samsung’s Galaxy AI-powered photo editing tools. In fact, Galaxy AI was actually introduced with the Galaxy S24 series, though we’ll dive into that in more detail later. This means you can remove unwanted objects, turn 30fps videos into slow-mo and fix crooked images with just a few taps. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra – just

Performance

• The Galaxy S26 Ultra runs on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, a custom version of Qualcomm’s top-end chip
• The Galaxy S24 Ultra runs on a custom version of Qualcomm’s 2024 flagship, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy
• Both support Galaxy AI

Both the Galaxy S26 Ultra and S24 Ultra run on custom versions of Qualcomm processors, although they naturally differ with their exact offerings. While the Galaxy S26 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s current top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, the Galaxy S24 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s 2024 Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. 

Although there’s a couple of years between them, the two Qualcomm chips are still impressively fast and responsive. However, perhaps most notably, both chips enable the running of Samsung’s Galaxy AI – in fact, the Galaxy S24 series was the first to introduce the toolkit back in 2024. With this in mind, you can expect to see the likes of Circle to Search, object removal in photos and the AI-powered Notes app across both the S24 Ultra and S26 Ultra. However, the S26 Ultra does benefit from a few exclusive features such as Now Nudge which offers real-time suggestions, based on what you’re doing on your phone. 

Otherwise, while the default Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip doesn’t power the best Android phones anymore, it does power the Honor 400 Pro which is one of the best mid range phones. Sure, it might not see the same benchmarking scores as Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but it’s still a perfectly speedy chip that can even handle mobile gaming with relative ease.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Software

• Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with Android 16 and One UI 8.5 out of the box
• The Galaxy S24 Ultra should get the One UI 8.5 upgrade in due course
• Both promise up to seven years of upgrades, which will take the S24 Ultra up to Android 21 while the S26 Ultra will see Android 23

When it comes to Android upgrades, Samsung is one of the more generous smartphone manufacturers. With this in mind, both the S26 Ultra and S24 Ultra come with up to seven years of upgrades promised. This will take the S24 Ultra up to Android 21 while the S26 Ultra will be supported up to Android 23.

Naturally, both the Galaxy Ultra models come running with Samsung’s One UI skin. However, at the time of writing, the S26 Ultra boasts One UI 8.5 whereas the S24 Ultra is still yet to receive this upgrade. Even so, overall One UI is easy to use and boasts a refreshed look compared to older versions of the skin.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Battery

• Both have average 5000mAh batteries
• Galaxy S26 Ultra supports faster 60W wired and 25W wireless charging speeds
• We found the S24 Ultra offered a slightly longer battery life compared to the S26 Ultra

Unfortunately, Samsung hasn’t made many improvements with the S26 Ultra’s battery life, as it’s fitted with the same 5000mAh battery as the S24 Ultra. It’s a pretty average capacity, especially considering many of the best Android phones boast cells upwards of 6000mAh. In fact, the Find X9 Pro and OnePlus 15 are respectively equipped with 7500mAh and 7300mAh cells. 

Surprisingly, in our experience we actually found the S24 Ultra offered slightly more battery life than the S26 Ultra, with around seven hours of screen time compared to just four. However, keep in mind that the exact amount of battery will depend on your own usage, plus the settings that you’ve enabled. 

One area where the S26 Ultra does see some improvement is with charging speeds. The S26 Ultra supports 60W wired that delivers a full charge in 53 minutes, while the S24 Ultra supports 45W and sees a full charge in just over 70 minutes. In addition, the S26 Ultra also supports 25W wireless charging whereas the S24 Ultra offers up to 15W speeds.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Verdict

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra sees more of a welcome tweak rather than a complete overhaul to the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, such a tweak enables the Galaxy S26 Ultra to be a solid all-rounder and a worthy upgrade from the S24 Ultra. 

However, this isn’t to say that the Galaxy S24 Ultra isn’t a solid handset as its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip remains speedy and it still boasts many Galaxy AI features. If you don’t want to splurge on the new model, then the S24 Ultra remains a decent Android for many and still boasts five years of updates.

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