Galaxy S26 Ultra: The gaming performance test!
Here's how the Galaxy S26 Ultra performs in some of the most-played Androide games.
A gaming phone disguised as a productivity machine. | Image by PhoneArena
This story is sponsored by Samsung. PhoneArena's opinions in this article have not been affected in any way!
Smartphones are plenty fast for regular workflows these days, with the only real differentiator becoming gaming performance. Mobile gaming is, in fact, the one most significant area that benefits from any inter-generational performance gains the most.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with better graphics performance versus the Galaxy S25 Ultra thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip on board as well as the improved heat management and Vulkan optimizations introduced by Samsung.
Firstly, the company has addressed thermal throttling by incorporating the largest vapor chamber on a Galaxy so far. This helps dissipate the heat away, allowing the chipset to run at higher clock speeds for longer.
The vapor chamber on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is roughly 15% larger than the one on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which helps it dissipate heat away from the device much better. To further improve thermal management, the Galaxy S26 Ultra also comes with an aluminum frame, which dissipates heat better than the titanium one on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Secondly, Samsung has introduced a ton of improvements to the Vulkan API, which offer quality and performance improvements to Vulkan-optimized games. In reality, Samsung cites a +40% improvement in Vulkan hardware-based ray-tracing.
And thirdly, the latest Snapdragon chip in the Galaxy S26 Ultra is actually a custom overclocked variant that’s slightly faster than the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 that’s available to other devices. That’s a net performance gain that’s difficult to overlook and could be the differentiating factor that would help it crunch through the games you have downloaded in your Gaming Hub app.
Combined, these upgrades hint at some serious gaming performance for the Galaxy S26 Ultra in comparison with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but is this the case in real life? We took the challenge to some of the best Android games right now.
Measuring gaming performance
How do you measure gaming performance?
It’s fairly easy to quantify the peak graphics-crunching with a number like average frames-per-second (FPS) measurement during gameplay. Many devices, mostly Android ones, have built-in tools to show the current FPS measurements during gaming, but this nonetheless key metric only tells half the story.
Smoothness is more important than peak FPS, as it indicates how capable the system is of tackling the most demanding situations during gaming.
But how do you measure smoothness?
Well, this is where the “1% low” or “5% low” metrics are introduced. The 5% low benchmark sorts 1,000 frames during benchmarking, identifies fifty of these that are rendered the slowest, and calculates the average FPS during these less-than-ideal frames. That’s because these fifty frames are essentially the stutter and dips in performance that you see during intensive combat, explosions, or when complex elements get rendered on screen.
A capable gaming machine doesn’t just strive to hit consistently high FPS numbers but also to keep the 5% lows as close as possible to the average FPS, as this ensures smoother gameplay and a happier gamer.
In this article, we will be using an independent third-party benchmarking app on Android, which will measure the key 5% low FPS among other essential metrics.
Game 1: Wuthering Waves (open-world RPG)
We kick off with one of the heavier Android games that you should definitely have in your Gaming Hub app, Wuthering Waves. In this epic open-world RPG, both the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Ultra perform excellently for long periods of time.
However, it’s the Galaxy S26 Ultra that sustains the better overall performance, with a higher average FPS and much higher 5% lows, which essentially means that you get significantly smoother gameplay and fewer dips in the graphics performance.
Settings used: Graphics API - Vulkan; Frame generation - Off, FSR - On; Resolution - Ultra High; 5 min gameplay
However, it’s the Galaxy S26 Ultra that sustains the better overall performance, with a higher average FPS and much higher 5% lows, which essentially means that you get significantly smoother gameplay and fewer dips in the graphics performance.
Settings used: Graphics API - Vulkan; Frame generation - Off, FSR - On; Resolution - Ultra High; 5 min gameplay
| Wuthering Waves | Galaxy S26 Ultra | Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Max FPS | 59.9 | 55.1 |
| Min FPS | 57.4 | 47.6 |
| 5% Low FPS | 57.6 | 50.4 |
| Variance FPS | 0.3 | 1 |
| Temperature Max (ºC) | 37 | 37.4 |
| Average Power (W) | 3.71 | 3.66 |
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right | Images by PhoneArena
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right.
Game 2: Delta Force (first-person shooter)
In one of the more impressive first-person shooters, Delta Force, the Galaxy S26 Ultra also proves to be one solid performer. While it’s pretty much neck and neck with the Galaxy S25 Ultra in terms of peak performance, the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers a smoother gaming performance, indicated by the 5% low of 108.2 fps vs 100.7 on the older phone. Efficiency is once again on the newer phone’s side, with a slightly lower temperature and marginally less power consumed on average.
Settings used: Quality - HD; FPS preset - 120fps; 5 min gameplay
| Delta Force | Galaxy S26 Ultra | Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Max FPS | 121 | 120.9 |
| Min FPS | 101.2 | 97 |
| 5% Low FPS | 108.2 | 100.7 |
| Variance FPS | 8.4 | 34 |
| Temperature Max (ºC) | 38.5 | 38.9 |
| Average Power (W) | 4.16 | 4.20 |
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right. | Images by PhoneArena
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right.
Game 3: Genshin Impact (open-world RPG)
In Genshin Impact, the consistency of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is once again evident. While both phones deliver very similar peak and average FPS (though the Galaxy S25 Ultra has the upper hand in both), the Galaxy S26 Ultra gives a slightly more consistent experience, with higher 5% lows than the older device and smaller FPS variance.
Settings used: Render resolution - Highest; Environment detail - Highest; FPS preset - 60fps; Graphics API - Vulkan; Galesong Hill exploration (5 min gameplay)
| Genshin Impact | Galaxy S26 Ultra | Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Max FPS | 60.4 | 60.8 |
| Min FPS | 52.5 | 48.7 |
| 5% Low FPS | 56.5 | 54.2 |
| Variance FPS | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Temperature Max (ºC) | 33.8 | 33.4 |
| Average Power (W) | 3.11 | 3.80 |
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right. | Images by PhoneArena
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right.
Game 4: Diablo Immortal (Action RPG)
In Diablo Immortal, both phones perform just about identically. The 0.1 FPS advantage that the Galaxy S25 Ultra has in the 5% low FPS metric is marginal. The key takeaway here, however, is the much better efficiency of the Galaxy S26 Ultra: not only is it more than two degrees cooler, but it has also wasted less than two watts of energy, beating the Galaxy S25 Ultra in overall efficiency.
Settings used: Default, 5 min gameplay
| Diablo Immortal | Galaxy S26 Ultra | Galaxy S25 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Max FPS | 60.7 | 60.1 |
| Min FPS | 58.3 | 58.7 |
| 5% Low FPS | 58.7 | 58.8 |
| Variance FPS | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Temperature Max (ºC) | 34.4 | 36.7 |
| Average Power (W) | 1.96 | 2.63 |
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right. | Images by PhoneArena
Galaxy S26 Ultra on the left, S25 Ultra — on the right.
Conclusion
While real-life gaming performance is mostly similar between the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it’s the newer phone that delivers the smoother and more efficient gaming performance.
Less stutter during intensive gameplay, as well as less heat generated, and generally a more efficient experience are what you can expect from the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
In gaming, where peak performance is mostly evened out, these key aspects of the Galaxy S26 Ultra make it a wise choice for gamers.
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