Samsung Galaxy S26 / Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung varies the processor by market: the US, China and Japan versions use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. This entry covers the Exynos 2600 SM-S942B version.

The viewable area is smaller than the rectangular measurement because of the corners and camera hole.

Adaptive refresh drops to as low as 1 Hz when content is static to save power and rises to 120 Hz when scrolling and gaming. Vision Booster adjusts colour and contrast in bright conditions across three lighting levels; the edge curve is reduced compared with the S22 Ultra.

The panel lowers its rate to match the content, slowing down on static images to save power and rising to 120 Hz for scrolling and games.

This is Samsung's peak figure, not a brightness held across the full screen.

Samsung says the vapour chamber is larger on every S23-series model.

Samsung says this GPU supports hardware ray tracing and is up to 50% faster at it than its predecessor.

Samsung states up to 29% better heat dissipation for the S26; this is a figure from the maker's own testing.

Usable space is lower than the total because of preloaded software. Options vary by country and carrier.

The 2x optical-quality zoom uses the centre of the main camera's Adaptive Pixel sensor; it is not a separate lens.

On the S23 series the front camera gets fast autofocus and 60 fps Super HDR.

The Expert RAW app (downloaded separately from the Galaxy Store) offers RAW capture at up to 50 MP.

Samsung quotes up to 30 hours of video playback; the typical figure was measured by a third-party lab to IEC 61960.

The figure was measured from 0% with a 25 W Samsung adapter and 3 A USB-C cable, screen off. The adapter and cable are sold separately.

PowerShare works only with certain Qi-compatible phones and wearables and may not work below 30% battery.

Wi-Fi 7 speeds need a Wi-Fi 7 router; 6 GHz use varies by country.

USB 3.2 Gen 1 carries up to 5 Gbit/s of data, which speeds up wired transfers of large video files to a computer.

Band support varies by market.

Weight may vary by country and configuration.

Water and dust resistance can decline over time with normal wear.

According to Samsung, the S23 series was the first S series to use Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

Memory depends on the storage option; usable space is lower because of preloaded software. There is no memory card slot.

The 200 MP sensor outputs 200, 50 or 12 MP images through pixel binning. 100x Space Zoom combines 10x optical with 10x AI-assisted digital zoom; image quality may deteriorate beyond 10x. The optical stabilisation angle was doubled compared with the S22 Ultra.

45 W requires a separately sold 45 W adapter and a 5 A USB-C cable; wired charging is compatible with QC2.0 and AFC. Wireless PowerShare charges Qi-compatible devices from the back of the phone when the battery is above 30%.

Update timing can vary by model and market.

Using Wi‑Fi 6E’s 6 GHz band needs a Wi‑Fi 6E router and market availability.

Knox Vault keeps critical data in separate hardware isolated from the operating system.

Samsung does not recommend beach or pool use.