Pre-ordered the S26 Ultra on the launch day and received it yesterday. The battery out of the box was 68%, charged it to 100% and started moving basic settings and photos using smart switch.
Setup all 160 apps and my preferred settings.
First impressions: The display is outstanding. The colors look fabulous on this phone, combining with the speakers, video/movie watching experience is amazing.
The battery: after over 7 hours of screen time, I'm still at 49% while writing this post. I'm pretty sure this is easily a two-day battery life phone until it starts deteriorating few years later.
AI features: Haven't used all of them but I loved the call assistant features, shooing away scam calls.
Camera: Took few test photos and videos and it actually is good compared to my S21 Ultra.
The reason: My S21 Ultra is still a beast, I still have full 20-24 hour battery, never freezes on me, the photos are decent, Instragrammable, however not upto the current industry benchmark. However, the reason is security updates. Samsung officially/quietly announced that January 2026 was the last quality update patch S21 Ultra will receive, which triggered this move for me.
Verdict: I could still use my S21 Ultra without a doubt but just because I won't receive any security updates, I had to move for peace of mind.
Things I'll miss: S21 Ultra form factor, the feeling of paid out phone, proud of first facelifted S2x series phone
Things I'm looking forward to: using AI to improve my daily routine and tasks, camera features for my trips and food tours, paying the hefty $1899 pricetag (including all discounts and taxes in Canada).
Thank you for sharing your detailed experience moving from the Galaxy S21 Ultra to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It’s wonderful to hear how impressed you are with the display, battery performance, and the new AI features, as well as the improvements in camera quality.
Your feedback about what you’ll miss from the S21 Ultra and what you’re looking forward to with the S26 Ultra is very valuable. We will ensure your insights are shared with our product team as they continue to refine future Galaxy experiences.
