The most versatile camera in Android, now with a screen no one else can read.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Samsung

Two telephotos, a 200MP variable-aperture main, and a real hardware Privacy Display make it the Android pick for shooting everything and guarding your screen. Battery is only average and color runs hot — if endurance matters more, look at the OnePlus 15.

The S26 Ultra is the closest thing Android has to a do-everything camera. The 200MP main now opens to f/1.4 and stops down to f/4.0, so it pulls in light at night and controls depth in daylight, and two telephoto lenses keep real optical detail from portrait range out past 5x. Samsung's processing is still aggressive — colors get pushed and auto-sharpening is heavy — but switching between lenses is finally seamless rather than four cameras pretending to be one. The standout this year isn't the camera, though; it's the Privacy Display. A hardware layer narrows the viewing angle on demand, so the person next to you on a train sees a dimmed screen while yours stays sharp. It works as advertised and can trigger per app. The 6.9-inch panel is otherwise excellent, if technically 8-bit with frame-rate control rather than true 10-bit. Performance comes from a Galaxy-tuned Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with a larger vapor chamber, and software support is the best in the business: seven years of OS and security updates, plus Quick Share that now talks to AirDrop. The catches are a 5,000 mAh battery that's merely all-day rather than two-day, weaker macro than last year, and no charger in the box.

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Last reviewed Jun 27, 2026

What we like

• ✓200MP main with a variable f/1.4-4.0 aperture for both low light and daylight depth
• ✓Two telephoto lenses keep real optical detail past 5x zoom
• ✓Hardware Privacy Display dims the screen for anyone but you
• ✓Seven years of OS and security updates — class-leading
• ✓Built-in S Pen with Bluetooth

Trade-offs

• −5,000 mAh battery is all-day, not the two-day endurance rivals now offer
• −Aggressive color and sharpening in auto mode
• −Macro focus distance regressed this generation
• −No charger included; ~$1,300 starting price