OnePlus Nord CE5 vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : OnePlus Nord CE5 Manufactured in July, 2025, with display 6.77 with chipsetMediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex, vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Manufactured in March, 2026with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose OnePlus Nord CE5
  • Lighter design: 199g vs 214g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5200mAh vs 5000mAh
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 500ppi
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.4
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2.0
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 16/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs OnePlus Nord CE5 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.77 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1080x2392 pixels 1440x3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.9:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 387 ppi 500 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1300 nits 1500 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 300 Hz 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 89.3 % 91.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
OnePlus Nord CE5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
2811 nits

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.58 mm (6.44 in) 163.6 mm (6.44 in)
Width 76.02 mm (2.99 in) 78.1 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.17 mm (0.32 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 199 g (7.02 oz) 214 g (7.55 oz)
Water resistance IP65 IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel n/a Glass
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue
- White
- Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes, In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
OnePlus Nord CE5
89.3 %
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
91.4 %

Performance

Testing OnePlus Nord CE5 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Max Frequency 3350 MHz 4740 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A510)
- 3/3.2 (Cortex-A715)
- 1/3.35 (Cortex-A715)
- 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance)
- 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor MediaTek APU 780 Hexagon
Graphics Mali-G615 MP6 Adreno 840
GPU Cores 768 1536
GPU Frequency 1400 MHz 1200 MHz
FLOPS 2150.4 GFLOPS 3686.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
OnePlus Nord CE5
1510
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
OnePlus Nord CE5
3990
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
11259
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)15103753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)399011259
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a28787
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
OnePlus Nord CE5
1395425
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3720219
CPU2975681094797
GPU5524511447696
Memory267441425113
UX277965752613
NanoReview Score13954253720219

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity128 GB256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 4.1
Memory CardMicroSDNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 16
UI Skin OxygenOS 15 One UI 8.5

Battery

Volume 5200 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 80 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes, (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes Yes (84% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time n/a 0:43 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
OnePlus Nord CE5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
28:50
Web Browsingn/a10:12 h
Video Playbackn/a21:39 h
Gamesn/a06:42 h
Standby Moden/a130 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 16320x12240 pixels
Zoom Digital 141
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 240 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 112 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.4
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2
Sensor size1/1.951/1.3 (0.77)
Pixel size0.8 μm0.6 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusLaser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a50 MP
Aperturen/af/2.9
Focal lengthn/a111 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX854
Sensor sizen/a1/2.52 (0.4)
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/1.9
Focal length16 mm13 mm
SensorOmnivision OV08D10Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN3
Sensor size1/4.01/2.5 (0.4)
Pixel size1.12 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
OnePlus Nord CE5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
160
Video quality
OnePlus Nord CE5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
153
Overall camera score
OnePlus Nord CE5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
157
Bokehn/a165

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution n/a 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX480 Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.0 1/3.2 (0.31)
Pixel size 1 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.4 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2.0 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* No Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM (850/900/1800/1900)GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsWCDMA (850/900/1900/2100)UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B32/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B48/B66/B71)
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced July, 2025 yr February, 2026 yr
Release Date July, 2025 yr March, 2026 yr
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included Yes, 80 W No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

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