The more I hear about the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the more I want to get the Galaxy S24 Ultra

Gadgets from the future – and the rumors that surround them – should make us stand up straight and walk with our shoulders back. Leaks and tech whispers (and the promise of a brighter, more advanced future) should give us the strength to endure the today for the sake of the tomorrow.

That may be valid on some other planet, but back here, on Earth, it's kind of the other way around.

Especially with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. That's right, it's been just some weeks since the Galaxy S25 lineup was unveiled – it's still sparkling new by all accounts, but we're off to 2026 and the flagshipest flagship that Samsung will pull out of its hat – the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

That hat appears to be bottomless – there are smartphones, AI, tablets, earbuds, cool smartwatches, TVs, and much more. But how entertaining can a clown be, if he pulls out of his hat the same rabbit year after year? How long before the more impatient among the kids in the audience go berserk and start throwing rotten cabbage, tomatoes and fruits at the stage?

Avid PhoneArena readers know where this is going: to the inevitable future of yet another eerily similar flagship to last year's. Or, worse – similar to the one from two years ago…

How can you be so sure about it?

I'm not, of course: it's only the beginning of March and there won't be a ton of (credible) leaks until later in 2025.

If we go back two years in time, it was again in March that the Galaxy S24 Ultra was mentioned for the first time, but the article back then had to do with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the amazing chipset that powers it.

It wasn't until April that the "gossip season" opened – and there were bits of information in June and July 2023, but things really kicked off from August onwards. So, 2025 has much more to offer in terms of leaked specs, renders, and early benchmark scores.

But – there's always a "but" – we're off to a false start with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and that's not amusing.

As my colleague Cosmin puts it (quite elegantly, I must say):

• Galaxy S26 Ultra shapes up to be another evolutionary rather than revolutionary flagship

The Galaxy S26 Ultra seems to be more of an iterative upgrade rather than a major leap forward, with many aspects remaining unchanged from the S25 Ultra. It still features a 12-megapixel front camera housed in a punch-hole cutout, dismissing earlier rumors of an under-display camera. While some argue this is a good decision due to current UDC performance limitations, it means no innovation in selfie camera design.

Storage configurations also remain the same, offering 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB options. Even fast charging speeds are expected to stay at 45W or possibly 50W, making little difference from its predecessor. The S Pen continues to lack Bluetooth, a change first introduced with the S25 Ultra due to minimal usage of Air Actions.

Samsung has reportedly managed to reduce bezel size, but the difference is so subtle that it’s barely noticeable. With no major design overhaul or groundbreaking hardware improvements, the S26 Ultra feels like a refinement rather than an exciting step forward, leaving some users hoping for more meaningful innovation.

Evolution vs revolution

Nothing wrong with evolution; it's how we got cats, dogs, plants, Homo Sapiens, and the rest of it.

But smartphones are not at the zenith of their impact right now – culturally, technologically… and morally. Sure, everybody uses smartphones. Like, all of the day and all of the day (as The Kinks put it). It's true that some of us, particularly those who have pimples instead of voting rights, even have addiction problems and overuse their smartphones to the point of abuse.

So, a revolution would be nice, thank you very much.

True, at the ongoing MWC 2025 (Mobile World Congress) we saw some clever gadgets – tri-folding beasts, super thin handsets, phones that get charged by ambient light (yes, that means switching on the light in your basement!), and whatnot.

Personally, I'm most impressed with Xiaomi's concept modular phone that allows a huge lens (with its own 100 megapixel huge sensor inside) to be magnetically snapped on its back and greatly elevate photography.

The problem is that these are all concept gadgets, mere ideas that are far from mass production.

And we're stuck with reality.

"But AI will be so much better in 2026"

OK, I hear you: one could argue that the smartphone hardware is so advanced that it doesn't matter if it stays – give or take – the same year after year. One could say that it's the software and the overall experience that matters. One could even say that AI is here to sell us some phones – the same phones from last year, but new… but still the same.

I think phone manufacturers and tech giants are all in on this one: AI is being shoved down our throats at every turn, and we've been living in that realm for well over a year now. ChatGPT was the Big AI Bang, then the universe started expanding and suddenly, Samsung and Google announced Galaxy AI and Gemini, respectively.

Then, everyone followed suit, and the AI craze spread faster than the plague unleashed by Nosferatu's cursed shipwreck.

As of now, it's only Apple that seems reluctant to join the AI race (and is well behind its rivals on that front). Many say it's because Cupertino has missed the starting gun and has great trouble catching up right now. But could it be that Apple is deliberately sitting this mass hysteria out? Do the Cupertino masterminds know something about AI we don't?

The reality – and least in my highly subjective opinion – is that people are not yet sold on the AI craze. Sure, AI agents can be helpful and fun, but it's not like we depend on them fully (yet) and can't do without AI (for now).

One recent survey is on my side:

• It's no surprise! A majority of iPhone and Galaxy users say AI is worthless

As the report reads, the survey shows that most iPhone (73%) and Samsung Galaxy (87%) users see little to no value in their phones' AI features. While 47.6% of iPhone users consider AI an important buying factor, only 23.7% of Samsung users agree. Few are willing to pay for AI, with just 11.6% of iPhone users and 4% of Samsung users open to a subscription.

Many avoid AI due to outdated software, lack of usefulness, accuracy concerns, and privacy issues – and the last thing on that list is what keeps people away from AI… for now.

Back to the Galaxy S26 Ultra (and back to the Galaxy S24 Ultra)

Of course, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be chock-full of AI, that much I can say with certainty, leaks or no leaks.

People will buy it regardless; it's a Samsung flagship, after all: many buyers shop with their heart. They want that logo. For some, it's too much of a hassle and too much of a risk to give a phone from another brand a try. Some people just don't care about extra battery life, faster charging, different camera setups, and other tech advancements.

So, if the Galaxy S26 Ultra turns out to be an incremental update and nothing more – and if I was searching for a Galaxy flagship to get – I wouldn't pay its premium price.

Spoiler alert: I wouldn't get the Galaxy S25 Ultra as well.

Instead, I'd go get the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Yes, I'm well aware that by January 2026 (when the S26 Ultra should drop), the S24 Ultra will be discontinued by Samsung (this might've already happened), but I don't care.



Samsung promises seven years of support, why not take advantage of them? Also, I'm sure that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be way cheaper and will be the smart financial move.

If you can find it in pristine condition, why not get it? It's got a great camera, downright amazing, glare-free display, solid 5,000 mAh battery, supports Galaxy AI (if that's your cup of tea): and it comes in that boxy, aggressive boxy design which its successor(s) forsake.

As our own comparison showed, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is more of a minor refresh than a true upgrade over the S24 Ultra. While its new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip is promising, the S24 Ultra already delivers excellent performance, making the upgrade feel unnecessary. With nearly identical displays, cameras, battery life, and software features, the differences are minimal.

I'll allow myself to end this one on a positive note: it's not cemented that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will indeed be a copy of a copy of its predecessor. It may very well come with some jaw-dropping hardware specs. As we know by now, true innovation doesn't come on a year-on-year basis. Maybe 2026 will surprise us in a good way.