This could be Galaxy S26 Ultra's most unnecessary upgrade: yet it might actually matter a lot to you

Once upon a time, I was pretty sure that every new phone was at least 2x better than its predecessor in every imaginable way; I've long parted with that pipe dream. For example, the Galaxy S25 Ultra was not a dramatic improvement over the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but truth to be told, I'm really curious about the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Phones made incredible leaps in terms of performance, durability, screens, and whatnot in the last 15 years, so it's really hard to innovate these days. That's why the widespread perception is that smartphones have generally plateaued.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra will allegedly challenge that view by incorporating super-duper, giga-mega fast RAM.

At first reading, that sounds… underwhelming. Faster RAM. Is that it? Frankly, considering the S25 Ultra is already lightning-quick, my first reaction was a shrug. I don't need apps to open in the blink of an eye when they already open in… the blink of an eye.

But here's where it gets interesting. This rumored RAM upgrade might not just be about speed. If the leaks are correct, the new chips will be physically thinner. That matters because every fraction of a millimeter inside a smartphone is prime real estate.

And in this case, thinner RAM could free up precious space for something we actually care about: a bigger battery. That suddenly turns this "meh" upgrade into a potentially great one.

How is this possible?

The S26 Ultra is expected to move from LPDDR5X RAM based on Micron's 1β (1-beta) process technology to a new 1γ (1-gamma) generation. On paper, this is a speed bump – from 9.6 Gbps to 10.7 Gbps. But the bigger story is in how that's achieved. The 1γ process shrinks the manufacturing scale, making the chips smaller, more power-efficient, and physically thinner – around 0.61mm thick compared to their predecessors.

This size reduction doesn't sound dramatic, but in smartphone engineering, it's huge. A slightly slimmer RAM module can mean a larger cavity inside the phone. That's space Samsung could use for a bigger vapor chamber, an upgraded camera sensor… or, most importantly, a bigger battery.

On top of that, 1γ RAM is said to deliver up to 20% better energy efficiency than 1β. That means not only could a larger battery fit, but the phone might sip power more slowly – stretching battery life even further.

But why not strive for faster RAM?

Here's the thing: RAM speed is already so far ahead of what everyday phone use demands that chasing more of it feels like polishing an already sparkling set of silver cutlery. The S25 Ultra launches apps in well under a second. Even if the S26 Ultra shaves that time by 0.1 seconds, you'll never notice it outside a benchmark chart.

Yes, faster RAM matters for extreme workloads – think high-resolution video editing or certain AI processing tasks – but for 99% of the stuff most of us do, the benefit is invisible.

We live in a time where performance is so good that gains in raw speed don't translate into better day-to-day experiences the way they once did. What matters more now is efficiency and endurance. And that's where this RAM upgrade could quietly shine.

Larger batteries, however, are so cool. I love the idea of a phone that just doesn't need to see a charger every night. Sure, we're surrounded by outlets and fast chargers, but there's something deeply satisfying about going more than a day without worrying about your battery percentage.

Samsung's Galaxy S Ultra line has been sitting at the 5,000 mAh mark for years now. Meanwhile, Chinese competitors have been crossing the 6,000 mAh threshold, with some models delivering astonishing screen-on times.

Nobody asked for this, but it could turn out sweet

So yes, by itself, "faster RAM" in the Galaxy S26 Ultra leaves me cold. I'm not sitting here dreaming about shaving milliseconds off opening Instagram. But if this new RAM is thinner and more efficient, that's a different story. It could allow Samsung to squeeze in a larger battery while simultaneously reducing power consumption.

If that's what happens, then the S26 Ultra would be more than just the S25 Ultra in new clothes. It would be a flagship with an upgrade that actually changes how you live with it, even if it hides behind a spec sheet line most people would normally ignore.

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