Galaxy S26 Ultra is still a hot new product, so it is eagerly being tested not only by users but also by consumer organizations. It recently earned recognition from seven of them, and now it has also received an excellent rating from the American magazine Consumer Reports. It has been rated Galaxy S26 Ultra for the best-selling cellphone in the US.
According to many users, it is Galaxy S26 Ultra just a slight improvement Galaxy S25 Ultra. Performance thanks to the new chip Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 jumped, but the storage type has not changed at all and the RAM is at the same values. It almost seems that the biggest improvements are advanced AI features and other display technology that allows the function to be turned on Privacy Display hide the content on the screen.
But experts have a different opinion. Seven European consumer organisations recently identified Galaxy S26 Ultra for the best mobile phone of today. It had already won the main award of Best in Show at the fair MWC 2026. And now he has another significant victory to his name. Prestigious American magazine Consumer Reports placed him in first place, surpassing not only his predecessor Galaxy S25 Ultra, but also a major competitor in the form of iPhone 17 Pro Max.
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Batteries in the lead role
The judges focus on various aspects and features of the phones they evaluate. The resulting score then shows how the phone performs against the competition. The current US ranking looks like this:
- Galaxy S26 Ultra – 88 points
- Galaxy S25 Ultra – 87 points
- Galaxy S24 Ultra – 87 points
- iPhone 17 Pro Max – 86 points
- iPhone 16 Pro Max – 86 points
- Galaxy S25+ – 86 points
Although Galaxy S26 Ultra won, it is clear from the points rating that it does not surpass its predecessors by much. Moreover, in categories such as brand credibility, camera quality or user-friendliness, according to the judges, they are exactly the same. Incidentally, the same applies to the two generations of iPhones mentioned, which are also de facto no different in the eyes of the judges.
But Samsung still managed to impress in one respect. And strangely enough, it's keep holding on, its most underrated feature. Battery capacity Galaxy S26 Ultra because it remained at the level 5 000 mAh and Samsung seems to be afraid of this magicHowever, thanks to various optimizations, it is continuously improving its endurance. According to the test, it lasted on a single charge 51 hours and 30 minutes. That is the longest out of a total of 29 mobile phones tested. According to the energy label, its maxThe maximum battery life on a single charge is even up to 55 hours, but it is clear that the reality will be different.
This is also proven by a recent test that can be seen on the YouTube channel AndroidAddicts. It focused on Galaxy S26 and compares variantu with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and the Exynos 2600 chip, but it clearly shows that the real endurance is only 6 to 9 hoursEven in this case, the energy label promises up to 51 hours. But that doesn't change the fact that the new series is one of the most successful phones on the market and interest in it is currently breaking records.
