Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra finally getting a bigger battery according to leak

It seems like Samsung is finally thinking about moving past the 5,000 mAh battery capacity barrier that its Galaxy flagships have been stuck with for generations. According to a new leak, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will have the largest battery that a mainstream Samsung phone has had in years.

Galaxy S26 Ultra coming with a 5,200 mAh battery

The leak (translated source), claims that the S26 Ultra continues the trend of slimming down and becoming lighter than its predecessors, but also finally gets a bigger battery. Apparently, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will have a 5,200 mAh battery, instead of the expected 5,000 mAh battery that Samsung has been using for years.

Previous reports have also leaked that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will be upgrading its charging speeds to 60W fast charging as well. That, alongside the capacity upgrade, is very welcome.

While hardly an upgrade, it signifies that Samsung is thinking about the things that really matter. And the company is going to need it, considering the leaked battery specs of the foldable iPhone.

Only to compete with iPhone 17 Pro Max?

Samsung has been using 5,000 mAh batteries on its Ultra phones for so long that users began giving up hope of ever seeing an upgrade. This year, Apple caught up to Samsung’s battery capacity with the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

There is a pretty good chance that the only reason that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will have a bigger battery is because Samsung will do just enough to stay ahead of Apple. After all, it does seem like only Apple drives Samsung’s innovation.

Galaxy S26 Edge research probably helped

I also think that the Galaxy S26 Edge — which might or might not be cancelled — probably helped with the design of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung had, according to leaks, managed to hit the limits of Li-ion batteries with the S26 Edge. The company is likely applying what it has learned to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, managing to slim it down further but with a bigger battery.

Apple is taking a different approach: the iPhone Air will be for consumers who want a slimmer phone each year, and the Pro models are actually getting thicker for better hardware. However, whichever development across the smartphone industry is driving Samsung to use better batteries, I’m all for it.

Now, fingers crossed for silicon-carbon batteries next.