Galaxy S26 Ultra Release Date, Price & Specs (2026)

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra was unveiled on February 25, 2026 at the Galaxy Unpacked event and pre-orders opened on the same day. According to a report from SamMobile about the launch in the US and Europe, the Galaxy S26 Ultra launched on March 11, 2026.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 200MP F1.4 main camera and is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip. It comes with an aluminum frame and retains the same quad camera setup as last year’s S25 Ultra.

On this page, we’ll take a look at the Galaxy S26 Ultra launch date and price, current price and color options, and everything that’s new on the phone.

When does the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra come out?

Samsung unveiled the S26 Ultra at Galaxy Unpacked on February 25, 2026. While some markets may have had it sooner (GSMArena’s spec page has it launching on March 6, 2026 but doesn’t specify which market), SamMobile reports that Samsung launched the phone on March 11, 2026 (the publication also lists prices for the US and Europe).

Samsung opened pre-orders for the S26 Ultra on February 25, 2026. It’s available for purchase from Samsung stores and samsung.com, as well as from major carriers.

How much does the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra cost?

Keep an eye out for deals from Samsung and your carrier, as they change often. And when the price increase took effect on Samsung’s website in October 2026, retailers like Amazon and Best Buy hadn’t implemented the new price yet (according to 9to5Google). So it’s worth checking around before dropping list price on a new phone. You may also be able to apply trade-in credit toward a new Galaxy purchase.

What colors does the S26 Ultra come in?

This year’s model ditches the S25 Ultra’s titanium frame for one made of what Samsung calls Armor Aluminum.

Four shades are widely available, with two exclusive colors for purchase on Samsung’s own website in certain regions.

• Black
• White
• Cobalt Violet
• Sky Blue
• Pink Gold and Silver Shadow (exclusively available at samsung.com in select markets)

Is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra out yet?

Samsung's S26 Ultra has been available for purchase in the US and Europe since March 11, 2026.

If you see "Notify me" on the phone's Samsung web page, it probably just means that one color (likely one that's only available online) or storage capacity is sold out in your area.

What's actually new on the S26 Ultra?

• An Armor Aluminum frame
• Up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM
• The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. Samsung claims the phone’s NPU is 39% faster than the one found in the S25 Ultra
• Four cameras up back: a 200MP Wide camera with a bigger F1.4 main aperture Samsung says lets in 47% more light than the S25 Ultra’s main camera (this helps its Nightography Video feature the most), a 50MP Ultra Wide camera, a 10MP 3x telephoto camera and a 50MP 5x telephoto camera with an F2.9 aperture. The 5x camera also features a prism (ALoP) camera design for the first time this year. The F1.4 aperture is the brightest ever on a Galaxy Ultra phone

Our S26 Ultra camera guide has full coverage of the cameras. For how the phones stack up against each other, check out our S26 Ultra vs S25 Ultra comparison.

Should you buy the S26 Ultra or wait?

Those upgrading from an S23 Ultra or older model should pull the trigger immediately as they will be getting a substantial generational uplift across the board (display, chipset, cameras etc). An S25 Ultra owner won't see much of an improvement unless they're taking a lot of low-light photos/videos. Samsung will most likely hold off on launching the S27 Ultra until early 2027 due to its typical release cycles (you can see everything we know so far in our S27 Ultra camera rumors).