Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: All the differences

Design and Size

Much slimmer and lighter body

The Galaxy S23 Ultra leaned hard into the Note-inspired design. It came with a tall and boxy body, housing the S Pen inside. Even in 2026, it still feels premium, but compared to the more recent Ultra models, it is starting to feel hefty, especially when compared to the S26 Ultra.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra still has that Note gene pool and the S Pen, but it trims the profile in a way that should be immediately obvious if you are coming from an S23 Ultra. It is only 7.9 mm thick and weighs just 214 grams, versus the S23 Ultra’s 8.9 mm and 234 grams. That’s no small difference.

Display Differences

The Galaxy S23 Ultra display was excellent in 2023, and it still holds up. It is sharp thanks to its QHD+ resolution, smooth at 120Hz, and gets pretty bright with 1750 nits of peak brightness.

But the display on Samsung’s Ultra models has improved since 2023. The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with Gorilla Glass Armor 2, which is much more resistant to scratches than the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the S23 Ultra. The brightness is also much higher, maxing out at 2600 nits. The most valuable upgrade, however, is the anti-reflective coating that Samsung has added, which prevents reflections, making the display even easier to see.

A new addition related to display this year is the Privacy Display mode. This feature lets you pick a specific app or even a specific situation (like when typing a PIN) when the display will significantly limit visibility from different angles.

Performance and Software

Big gains

Three generations later, the S26 Ultra brings faster AI, stronger graphics, and cooler performance worldwide. | Image by PhoneArena

The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy was a strong chip and one of the reasons that phone aged as well as it did. But three generations is still three generations, and that’s enough time for some major progress to have taken place.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, built on a 3 nm process. The best part is that this will be the chip on the S26 Ultra no matter where you buy it from.

This year Samsung has also added a new vapor chamber, improving the heat management, which should help the S26 Ultra perform at its peak for longer. This means you will be able to work in more demanding apps for longer before the phone heats up and its performance starts dropping, but we’ll let you know more once we test that ourselves.

Camera

We should see a noticeable difference

From extreme 10x zoom to smarter 5x and a 50 MP ultrawide, the S26 Ultra modernizes the entire camera system. | Image by PhoneArena

The Galaxy S23 Ultra still offers a highly versatile camera system, and it was the last Ultra to feature a dedicated 10x optical periscope lens. In practice, though, that extreme zoom range was not always the most useful for everyday shooting. That, and the 12 MP ultrawide did not churn out detailed images.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra moves to a 50 MP ultrawide and the more practical 5x telephoto first introduced with the S24 Ultra. This generation also brings updated optics for both the main and 5x cameras. Both lenses now have wider apertures, which should let in more light, improving low-light and HDR performance, and overall image quality.

Battery Life and Charging

Same capacity, longer battery life, faster charging

Same 5,000 mAh, but faster 60W charging and better efficiency make the S26 Ultra the real upgrade. | Image by PhoneArena

Both phones use a 5,000 mAh battery, but the S26 Ultra charges faster.

More notably, though, Samsung has upgraded the charging speeds to 60W wired and 25W wireless. The Galaxy S23 Ultra topped out at 45W wired charging and slower wireless charging. According to Samsung’s claims, the S26 Ultra should charge to around 75% in just 30 minutes, vs 68% on the S23 Ultra.

Specs Comparison

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Dimensions
163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm (~10 mm with camera bump)	163.3 x 78 x 8.9 mm (~10.68 mm with camera bump)
Weight
214.0 g	234.0 g

Size
6.9-inch	6.8-inch
Type
Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz

System chip
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SM8850-AC (3 nm)	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550 (4 nm)
Memory
12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB 16GB/1024GB	8GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB 12GB/1024GB

Type
5000 mAh	5000 mAh
Charge speed
Wired: 45.0W Wireless: 15.0W	Wired: 45.0W Wireless: 15.0W

Main camera
200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Aperture size: F1.4 Focal length: 23 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3″ Pixel size: 0.6 μm	200 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.3″ Pixel size: 0.6 μm
Second camera
50 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung JN3 Aperture size: F1.9 Sensor size: 1/2.5″ Pixel size: 0.7 μm	12 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX564 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55″ Pixel size: 1.4 μm
Third camera
10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Sensor size: 1/3.94″ Pixel size: 1.12 μm	10 MP (Telephoto) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 10.0x Aperture size: F4.9 Focal Length: 230 mm Sensor size: 1/3.52″ Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Fourth camera
50 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX854 Optical zoom: 5.0x Aperture size: F2.9 Focal Length: 115 mm Sensor size: 1/2.52″ Pixel size: 0.7 μm	10 MP (Telephoto, OIS) Sensor name: Sony IMX754 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 69 mm Sensor size: 1/3.52″ Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Front
12 MP (PDAF, HDR)	12 MP (PDAF)

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Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specs comparison

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Summary

From S23 Ultra to S26 Ultra, the leap is in feel, photos, and speed. | Image by PhoneArena

If you decide to upgrade from the Galaxy S23 Ultra to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, you should feel a massive difference in mainly three areas: how the phone feels in your hand, the camera system’s image quality, and the chip performance.

The weight and thickness drop alone is a major quality-of-life improvement if you have been living with the S23 Ultra’s size for the past three years. If you often use the cameras, the changes introduced with later models and the ones that come with the S26 Ultra will also be a massive improvement to your experience.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will play a big role too, especially with apps that rely on AI, which almost all of major ones do nowadays. Of course, on-device AI will also be much quicker, like removing people from photos for example.