Most people would ditch the Galaxy S Ultra if Samsung doesn’t change something

Those results may seem damning at first, but they reveal the watershed moment Samsung finds itself in. While about a fifth of its fans may be lost, there’s a strong core of loyal fans that just love the company’s products. More importantly, that other half is not lost; they simply want to see the Korean company improving.

Samsung needs to do even better

For years, Samsung’s top-tier phones were so good and ahead of the competition that the company could afford to put little effort into them. It would be absurd to call the Galaxy S25 Ultra a bad phone, even if it didn’t introduce that many upgrades over the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The S26 Ultra is rumored to continue with the same strategy and feature only small improvements over its predecessor, which wouldn’t be a surprise or a change of pace for Samsung.

What’s different this year is the competition. While other companies have been making ultra-flagships for years, in 2025, more of them will finally have wider releases. Xiaomi has already offered the Xiaomi 15 Ultra outside of China, and it’ll do the same with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. That model is rumored to be joined by the Vivo X300 Ultra and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra. 

None of those will end up in the US, but they’ll make some key markets even more competitive. While Samsung still dominates smartphone sales in many regions, Xiaomi took second place in the European market from Apple at some point in 2025. 

To come out on top of the competition, Samsung needs to change its strategy. Launching ultra-tier flagship phones with minimal upgrades year after year won’t be enough anymore, and eventually it may doom the company to obscurity.

There’s still hope for Samsung

The Galaxy S26 series and the S26 Ultra are now a done deal, but the Galaxy S27 Ultra is not. Rumor has it that it’ll feature a major camera upgrade, but I’d love to see Samsung doing even more. 

Deliver on the large batteries, fast charging, overpowered specs, and tons of memory that fans have been wanting for so long. Then go a step further with a crazy idea that may or may not work, but it would show that Samsung’s spirit is still alive. I believe that could convince the 50% who would consider switching from a Galaxy S Ultra not do it, and maybe even win over new fans.