Samsung’s poised to introduce its flagship contender for 2026 very soon, but before the Galaxy S26 Ultra tries to earn a spot on our best phones list, it’s good to go over what the Galaxy S25 Ultra has done up until this point. I’ve spent nearly a year with the S25 Ultra and it’s a good benchmark for Samsung’s upcoming contender.

Although it was one of the first flagship models to arrive in 2025, it managed to set the bar high for all other flagship releases — including the likes of the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Since I’ve spent a great deal of time with them, I’ll tell you exactly how the Galaxy S25 Ultra has held up, along with other notable rivals.

At the same time, I’ll explain all the areas Samsung needs to improve in to make the Galaxy S26 Ultra the true phone to beat in 2026.

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iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S25 Ultra face-off, I point out how Apple made a huge leap in battery life and performance thanks to its A19 Pro chip — but I was more shocked by the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s camera performance.

Biggest differences: I was never disappointed by the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s quadruple camera system, which is without a doubt one of the most versatile around, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max focuses more on what matters most — quality. This is exactly what I show in my 200 photo shootout between the iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S25 Ultra, as Samsung’s best camera phone couldn’t quite keep up with the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s unbelievable low light performance.

Most notable strengths: I will say that the Galaxy S25 Ultra offers the more compelling software package with its One UI 7 software and robust set of Galaxy AI features. The latter’s important because there’s such a big disparity between Galaxy AI and Apple Intelligence features. At the same time, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is big on productivity with features like Samsung DeX and its multitasking capabilities.

Predictions: For the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung will somehow need to figure out how it can best Apple’s flagship. One of the leading rumors is how the main camera could be getting a faster f/1.4 aperture, which could absolutely benefit its low light performance — in addition to the other leak about an upgraded 3x telephoto camera, but I suspect bigger improvements to accompany the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 it’s tipped to be getting. I hope that also translates to the models that are going to be getting the Exynos 2600 instead.

Google didn’t seem as aggressive compared to years past when it came to hardware upgrades for the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but it didn’t need to because it went deeper with its myriad of new AI features. I thought the Galaxy S25 Ultra didn’t disappoint in this area with key features like Cross App Actions and Now Brief. However, they simply weren’t enough.

Biggest differences: Phone makers don’t need to always prove that hardware upgrades are needed to make a difference. Instead, Google ventured deeper than Samsung at exploring more AI tools with features like Ask Photos, Pro Res Zoom, and Pixel Screenshots.

Most notable strengths: The Galaxy S25 Ultra still had a few tricks under its sleeve that I think were more polished. For starters, it came out on top in my Pixel 10 Pro XL vs Galaxy S25 Ultra photo face-off — proving how its 200MP main camera is still a beast. And despite teasing its own Android 16 desktop mode, the Pixel 10 Pro XL still doesn’t come close to matching the usefulness of Samsung DeX.

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Predictions: More artificial intelligence features would benefit the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Google has shown how its photo editing AI features are so intuitive to use, while also delivering outstanding results that look realistic. I want the Galaxy S26 Ultra to follow the same direction, but I’d love to see more AI with video editing tools.

OnePlus 15 that it made the Galaxy S25 Ultra feel obsolete.

Biggest differences: I have to admit that the OnePlus 15 improved in nearly every single category against the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The biggest difference is the record setting battery life performance out of the OnePlus 15, which can be attributed to the more power efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and new carbon-silicon battery tech. I thought the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s time of 14 hours and 27 minutes was long, but the OnePlus 15 puts it to shame at 25 hours and 13 minutes.

Most notable strengths: Even though OnePlus made bigger strides with AI versus in the past, it still doesn’t come close to matching the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This is especially true around photo editing tools and generative AI. Portrait Studio and Sketch to Image are two generative AI features I love using with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but I also tested out its hidden Expert RAW mode that makes its low light camera performance way better than the OnePlus 15.

Predictions: OnePlus’ flagship model is one of the fastest performing and longest lasting phones you can buy right now, but I suspect that the Galaxy S26 Ultra to be almost just as good. It’s very likely that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen will do wonders for its battery life performance, but it’s unknown if the Korean phone maker will be tapping carbon-silicone battery tech to turbocharge the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s battery.

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