Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Specs Revealed: Faster Charging, AI Upgrades Ahead

Samsung is preparing to kick off the year 2026 with the launch of its premium Galaxy S26 Ultra, and thereby setting the tone for the brand's future smartphones in terms of hardware, software, and services. One of the questions that have been bothering the enthusiasts is already answered before the official confirmation: the selection of the processor.

The federal communication commission (FCC) regulatory submissions have provided clarity. Two models—SM-S948B and SM-S948U—have been shown in the list. The "U" is meant for the U.S. carriers, while the "B" signifies the unlocked international one. Both units are running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and this confirms the company's decision to go with Snapdragon for the Ultra model this year.

China’s 3C (China Compulsory Certification) registrations are giving additional information about S26 Ultra’s features. The Chinese variant with model number SM-9480 will support satellite connectivity, most probably for both standard and emergency messaging, thus keeping the functions pelling out with S25 Ultra. The wired charging will be rating at 60W, and wireless charging will be at 25W. This can make a 5,000 mAh battery reach 80% in about 30 minutes.

The Snapdragon chipset has almost always been the preferred choice for Galaxy S Ultra series. It provides with strong performance along with good thermal control. Performance comparisons with Samsung’s Exynos show the gap becoming narrower. The benchmark tests depicted Exynos 2600 with better single-core results while Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 took the lead in multi-core performance. Battery efficiency is still an area where Exynos chips have an edge, although the gap is narrowing with every new generation.

AI capabilities are going to be one of the main points of interest for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. In the course of mobile AI adoption, the performance will depend not only on the sheer processing power but also on the hardware that is specifically designed for AI tasks. The exact performance difference between the Snapdragon and Exynos chips in terms of AI has not been completely revealed for this generation, but it is expected that Snapdragon will continue to be the high-performance option while Exynos might be the reluctant one for the others in the S26 series.

The Galaxy Unpacked event of Samsung is set for the end of January 2026. During the event, the company is likely to unveil the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, along with the full specs, pricing, and availability.