Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
67
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95
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Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.8 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, 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
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
- Higher pixel density: 515ppi
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
- Larger display: 6.9in
- Lighter design: 214g vs 227g
- Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.2
- Supports DisplayPort
Versions
| Memory Options | - 12/128 GB - 12/256 GB - 12/512 GB - 16/256 GB - 16/512 GB |
- 12/256 GB - 12/512 GB - 16/1024 GB |
Review
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
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Tests & specs
Specs & test comparisonDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.8 in | 6.9 in |
| Resolution | 1440x3200 pixels | 1440x3120 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| Pixel density | 515 ppi | 500 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (10-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max brightness | 1500 nits | 1500 nits |
| HDR support | Yes HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch Sampling Rate | n/a | 240 Hz |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5 % | 91.4 % |
| Features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC dimming |
Design & Build
| Height | 165.1 mm (6.5 in) | 163.6 mm (6.44 in) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 in) | 78.1 mm (3.07 in) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 in) | 7.9 mm (0.31 in) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 214 g (7.55 oz) |
| Water resistance | IP68 | IP68 |
| Cooling system | n/a | Vapor chamber |
| Back panel | Glass | Glass |
| Frame | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | - Black - Silver - Gray - Blue |
- White - Black - Silver - Blue - Pink - Purple |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes In-Display | Yes, In-Display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Max Frequency | 2900 MHz | 4740 MHz |
| CPU Cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55) - 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78) - 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1) |
- 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance) - 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime) |
| Process | Samsung | TSMC |
| Transistor Size | 5 nm | 3 nm |
| Neural Processor | Yes | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Adreno 840 |
| GPU Cores | 896 | 1536 |
| GPU Frequency | 854 MHz | 1200 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1530.4 GFLOPS | 3686.4 GFLOPS |
| Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) | 1449 | 3753 |
| Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) | 3892 | 11259 |
| Geekbench Compute (GPU) | n/a | 28787 |
| CPU | 232358 | 1094797 |
| GPU | 256356 | 1447696 |
| Memory | 163007 | 425113 |
| UX | 191217 | 752613 |
| NanoReview Score | 843008 | 3720219 |
| Max Surface Temp. | 40.8 °C | n/a |
| Stability | 69 % | n/a |
| Graphics Test | 31 fps | n/a |
| Graphics Score | 5221 | n/a |
Memory
| RAM Size | - 12 GB - 16 GB |
12 GB |
| Memory Type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Memory Frequency | 2750 MHz | n/a |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage Capacity | - 128 GB - 256 GB - 512 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage Type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 4.1 |
| Memory Card | No | No |
Software
| OS | Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) | Android 16 |
| OS Size | 26.4 GB | n/a |
| UI Skin | One UI 6 | One UI 8.5 |
Battery
| Volume | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max Charging Power | 25 W | 60 W |
| Battery Type | Li-ion | Li-ion |
| Removable | No | No |
| Wireless Charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (25 W) |
| Reverse Charging | Yes (Wireless) | Yes, (Wireless) |
| Fast Charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes (84% in 30 min) |
| Full Charge Time | 1:11 h | 0:43 h |
| Web Browsing | 07:58 h | 10:12 h |
| Video Playback | 13:59 h | 21:39 h |
| Games | 05:14 h | 06:42 h |
| Standby Mode | 111 h | 130 h |
Main camera
| Matrix | 108 MP | 200 MP |
| Photo resolution | 12000x9000 pixels | 16320x12240 pixels |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | 141 |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K Recording | Up to 24FPS | 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 | 120 ° | 120 ° |
| Lenses count | Standard: 108 MP Telephoto: 10 MP Telephoto: 10 MP Ultra-wide: 12 MP |
Standard: 200 MP Telephoto: 50 MP Telephoto: 10 MP Ultra-wide: 50 MP |
| Features | - Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Matrix | 108 MP | 200 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.4 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KHM3 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP2 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.33 | 1/1.3 (0.77) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 μm | 0.6 μm |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Laser autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 10 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/4.9 | f/2.9 |
| Focal length | 240 mm | 111 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3J1 | Sony IMX854 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65 | 1/2.52 (0.4) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 μm | 0.7 μm |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 12 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX563 | Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55 | 1/2.5 (0.4) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 μm | 0.7 μm |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Bokeh | 70 | 165 |
| Preview | 67 | n/a |
| Zoom | 106 | n/a |
Front camera
| Matrix | 40 MP | 12 MP |
| Photo resolution | 7864x5200 pixels | 4000x3000 pixels |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGH1 | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65 | 1/3.2 (0.31) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 μm | 1.12 μm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 fps | 2160p (4K) at 60 fps |
| TOF 3D sensor | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi version | Wi-Fi 6E (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 | 5.2 | 6.0 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB Storage Mode - USB-Host mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB Storage Mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | n/a | Yes |
| GPS | - GPS - GLONASS - Beidou - Galileo |
- GPS - GLONASS - Beidou - Galileo - QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared Port | No | No |
| SIM Count* | 2 | 1 |
| SIM Type | Nano | Nano |
| SIM Mode | Dual SIM Standby | Dual SIM Standby |
| eSIM Support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid Slot | No | No |
| 2G Bands | GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz | GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900 |
| 3G Bands | WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 | UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900) |
| LTE Bands* | LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/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) |
| LTE category | 24 | n/a |
| 5G Support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | n/a |
| 3.5 mm Jack | No | No |
| FM Radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Other
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January, 2021 yr | February, 2026 yr |
| Release Date | February, 2021 yr | March, 2026 yr |
| Launch Price ($) | 1200 | n/a |
| MSRP ($) | n/a | 1299 |
| Sensors | - Hall Sensor - Barometer - 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 | n/a | 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.
Survey
Total Votes: 3
