The Galaxy S26 Ultra gets humiliated by a new Samsung phone that's $1,000 cheaper and has a bigger battery

Is it possible for a new budget-friendly Samsung phone that doesn't even cost $300 to outdo the company's best flagship ever, the $1,300 Galaxy S26 Ultra, in terms of sheer battery capacity?

As it turns out, yes.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is among the best Android flagship phones money can buy today. It's got a mighty camera setup, a gorgeous display (with its built-in, exclusive Privacy Display feature) and it's a powerhouse that'll keep you satisfied with anything you throw at it, be it a demanding game or heavy multitasking.

It would be a shame if a ~$245 Galaxy phone with a 6,000 mAh battery on board would materialize, right?

Yeah, say hello to the new Galaxy M47, a budget-friendly mid-ranger that has an ace or two up its sleeve.

It's the enhanced Galaxy A27 5G!

The new Galaxy M47 is a budget-friendly (~$245 when directly converted) mid-ranger meant for the Indian market. Actually, this is the Galaxy A27 5G that we told you about some days ago; the new M47 version just has a bigger battery capacity – 6,000 mAh instead of 5,000 mAh.

The phone has a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display (Full HD+ resolution), a 120Hz refresh rate and a hole-punch front camera. It features a 12 MP selfie camera, a 50 MP main rear camera (with stabilization), a 5 MP ultra-wide camera and a 2 MP macro camera (please don't use it!).

The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 6 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 128 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It also includes a hybrid microSD card slot and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. The device ships with Android 16 and One UI 8.5, with Samsung promising six Android OS upgrades and six years of security updates. The battery supports 45W wired fast charging speeds, which is nice!

The $1,000 difference

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is super sleek and it comes with seven years of support and software updates: it's as future-proof as it gets.

Comparing the flagship against the Galaxy M47 beyond the battery cell capacity is pointless. For a thousand bucks more, you get a better everything. Far superior cameras, display, software tricks and features, speakers and whatnot.

Maybe the only advantage of the new Galaxy M47 (apart from the mAh capacity) is its support of microSD cards. I still can't forgive OEMs for removing the expandable storage slot.

Cool tricks, but not enough

The thing that bothers me the most about the Galaxy S26 Ultra is its 5,000 mAh battery – for an Android flagship in 2026, that's simply unacceptable.

The phone itself is doing OK in terms of battery life thanks to the highly efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and its software tricks.

But our own Vic found out in his real-life battery tests that the S26 Ultra scores an average screen time (per 100%) of 7 hours and 3 minutes. Sammy has some catching up to do, since the iPhone 17 Pro Max scored over 9 hours of screen time.

For its Galaxy S Ultra phones, Samsung has been stuck at the 5,000 mAh capacity level for the seventh year in a row, starting with the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Enough is enough.

Available in India

For now – and this would probably not change – the new Galaxy M47 will be available (starting July 4) in India, so don't get your hopes too high about an eventual US release.

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