Reviewing the Samsung S26 Ultra this year feels like a bit of a tug-of-war. On one hand, there is some frustration that Samsung hasn’t made massive leaps in the camera hardware or battery capacity, especially when competitors are pushing the boundaries so hard. In fact, when you put it side-by-side with a beast like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Samsung’s camera can sometimes look like it's lagging in fine detail and low-light performance. However, Samsung seems to be betting everything on software innovation and Galaxy AI rather than just chasing raw numbers.

The star of the show is undoubtedly the AI features. You can now use AI to completely change an outfit in a photo, remove thick fog from a landscape, or even merge two different images into one. While some of these tricks—like generating custom event invites or weird wallpapers—feel more like "fun extras" than daily necessities, they show just how much power is under the hood. There are some hiccups, though; using AI image editing can sometimes lower the resolution of your photos, and Bixby still feels like it needs a lot of work to be truly helpful.

Despite the hardware staying mostly the same, the S26 Ultra is still a productivity monster. Thanks to a much more efficient processor, the battery actually lasts longer than many previous models and even beats out the latest iPhones in some tests. You also get the iconic S Pen, a feature that remains unmatched in the smartphone world. Samsung has also introduced a new privacy display, which is great for keeping prying eyes off your screen, though it does mean the screen is a bit more reflective than last year's model. Ultimately, with 7 years of software updates and a very stable experience, the S26 Ultra remains the safe choice for most people, even if the "wow factor" is mostly in the software this time around.