New Galaxy S26 Ultra leaks include promising charging info and conflicting battery sizes
While Samsung's next big thing is widely expected to finally go beyond 45W charging, a battery size upgrade over the 5,000mAh S25 Ultra remains unclear.
Are you excited about next year's Galaxy S26 Ultra yet? If not, a slew of new social media rumors is likely to considerably boost your enthusiasm for Samsung's already highly anticipated S25 Ultra sequel, then reduce your excitement, then build it back up again.
That's obviously all because we are talking about a product unlikely to come out in the next five months, which makes it difficult to know exactly what is etched in stone, what's an educated guess from a generally well-connected insider, and what's merely wishful thinking on the part of the same pundits and leakers.
5,500mAh + 65W?
Now that sounds like a potentially winning formula for a high-end Samsung handset in 2026, but while one of those numbers is definitely a safe bet after @UniverseIce and @chunvn8888's latest X posts, the other basically has a 50-50 chance of materializing.
Yes, the S26 Ultra is extremely likely to upgrade its predecessor's 45W charging capabilities to 65W, but while one typically reliable X tipster also expects the S25 Ultra's 5,000mAh battery size to jump to 5,500mAh, the other doesn't think that number is going to change.
The S26 Ultra may or may not upgrade the battery capacity of the ancient S20 Ultra. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
I honestly don't know who to believe here, but as much as I'd like to put my trust in the 5,500mAh prediction, the unchanged 5,000mAh cell capacity has been mentioned by another generally rock-solid source before, so realistically speaking, that's probably the (slightly) more plausible scenario right now.
Would it be disappointing to see Samsung stick with a 5,000mAh battery for the seventh (!!!) Galaxy S Ultra generation in a row? Clearly, especially when you've already got the likes of the OnePlus 13 packing a 6,000mAh cell and the OnePlus 15 expected to break the 7,000mAh (!!!) barrier soon.
Would an unchanged 5,000mAh battery be a Galaxy S26 Ultra dealbreaker?
Absolutely
40.32%
Maybe not a dealbreaker, but it doesn't sound great
41.4%
Not if the charging speeds go up
11.83%
Not if the device thickness goes down
6.45%
The OnePlus 13 also comes with blazing fast 100W charging support (which the OnePlus 15 will either retain or improve even further), making the S26 Ultra's possible upgrade to 65W speeds sound... unremarkable at best. Still, at least Samsung is looking to boost one number that's been a thing for Galaxy S Ultra flagships for several years, thus making slow but clear progress towards (eventually) catching up to some of its top China-based rivals.
A razor-thin profile might be more important than a big battery
For Samsung, that is, as the Galaxy S26 Ultra has already been rumored a few different times to come with a reduced waist compared to the 8.2mm S25 Ultra.
I still don't have an exact number for you in that department, but one can reasonably assume that a sub-8mm profile, for instance, would make it essentially impossible to go over the 5,000mAh battery mark. Unless, of course, Samsung is planning to put groundbreaking new silicon-carbon battery technology on the entire S26 family instead of just the Galaxy S26 Edge model, which seems unlikely.
The S26 Ultra is now widely expected to rock a slimmer profile than the S25 Ultra. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
Silicon-carbon battery material, remember, allows for capacity numbers to be easily improved without the cell actually occupying any extra physical space, the downside being potentially faster and more drastic long-term degradation. That's a risk Samsung might be willing to take for the sequel to the reportedly unpopular Galaxy S25 Edge, but most likely not for the S25 Ultra's follow-up and I'm guessing not for the "base" Galaxy S26 version either.
At the end of the day, there's obviously nothing wrong with a slim Galaxy S26 Ultra, but if Samsung does indeed have no plans to beef up the battery size beyond 5,000mAh, some big upgrades on the camera front and in other key departments may be needed to, well, justify the phone's existence in the first place.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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