Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra put to the test with our latest DXOMARK tools

Samsung has introduced the next generation of its flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. The device is positioned as an evolution of its predecessor, bringing a series of refinements rather than a complete redesign. While the hardware updates remain relatively limited, Samsung highlights improvements in software processing and image optimization.

At DXOMARK, the smartphone underwent our comprehensive Camera protocol testing, along with additional evaluations designed to better understand its real-world imaging performance. We also analyzed its performance compared to its main competitor, the iPhone 17 Pro. Here are our key findings.

All measurements, quantitative metrics, and analytical findings presented in this document are derived from two newly developed DXOMARK evaluation systems:

ALL‑IN‑ONE PORTRAIT : a fully automated laboratory platform designed to characterize portrait‑photography performance across the broadest measurement spectrum currently available. The system enables controlled, repeatable Image Quality (IQ) assessment through standardized test protocols and calibrated measurement pipelines while including the widest range of tested lighting condition (from 0.1 Lux to 10.000 Lux).

Golden Eye Assistant : an AI‑driven evaluation engine capable of extracting and quantifying more than ten perceptual Image Quality attributes from portrait images on natural scenes. The underlying IQ metrics are trained and validated to achieve correlation with human visual perception, ensuring that the computed scores reflect real‑world perceptual outcomes.

Using these two complementary systems, DXOMARK generated a large‑scale dataset comprising several million measurement points, produced from the analysis of over 4,000 portrait photographs and more than 3 hours of video sequences. This dataset forms the empirical basis for all results, trends, and conclusions discussed in the following sections.

Low-light performance has improved thanks to a wider aperture and Samsung’s Pro Scaler technology, though it still lags behind the Apple iPhone 17 Pro and 16 Pro Max in both Photo and Video.

Samsung made relatively few hardware updates with the S26 Ultra, but it introduced a wider aperture on the main camera and a 5× telephoto module. These changes allow the sensor to capture more light, enhancing performance in challenging conditions such as low-light photography and video, where post-processing is more complex and initial image data is crucial.

These updates result in a noticeable improvement in the texture/noise trade-off compared to the S25 Ultra, with much better noise control. Additionally, the Pro Scaler technology further reduces noise, particularly when slightly zooming in on the main sensor.

However, it still often underperforms compared to the iPhone in such scenarios, exhibiting noticeable luminance noise and reduced detail preservation in both Photo and Video.

Portrait photography benefits from software improvements but still significantly lags behind iPhone 17 Pro

One of the key drawbacks of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra was inconsistent color rendering in challenging lighting conditions, which often resulted in unnatural skin tones. This limitation contributed to a low performance in our DXOMARK Insights studies conducted in 2025

See here further details about our recent studies:

With the S26 Ultra, Samsung MDNIE color engine appears to have addressed the issue effectively. Clear improvements in skin tone accuracy and texture preservation have been observed compared to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, enhancing overall portrait quality.

This makes the Galaxy S26 Ultra a stronger contender against the iPhone 17 Pro, which remains a top performer in this category. Beyond color rendering, another crucial aspect of portrait quality is achieving pleasant face brightness. On this front, performance is fairly similar between the two brands, although brightness could be slightly higher in certain scenarios.

In other scenario where dynamic is lower, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra usually provide slightly higher boost on face brightness compared to iPhone 17 Pro, which should help with users satisfaction.

However, DXOMARK highlights another factor that significantly affects Portrait performance on the S26 Ultra and contributes to the quality gap. Several autofocus issues were observed, particularly in low-light or challenging HDR conditions, when shooting at 1× or with the telephoto camera. These minor focus inaccuracies result in lower facial exposure and a loss of fine detail, impacting the overall portrait quality.

Another aspect where Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra seems to struggle to keep up with latest flagships capabilities is Portrait Mode performance (Bokeh). The smartphone clearly lacks image clarity and noise reduction to compete with competition.

Beyond portrait quality, there is also a noticeable gap in segmentation accuracy, with flagship devices overall failing to deliver consistently satisfying results in this mode.

Zoom performances remains among the best on the US market , though strong challengers are emerging

One area where the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra remains a strong competitor in the Western market is the zoom performance in both Photo and Video. In many scenarios, the S26 Ultra still preserves slightly more details than the iPhone 17 Pro. However, the competition is now clearly closing the gap to what Samsung achieves with its dual telephoto modules. Apple iPhone 17 Pro has consistently improved its zoom capabilities to now really challenge the Samsung’s series in photo and video. Other brands like Motorola and its Signature flagship product are also delivering impressive performances, particularly in photography, rivaling what the Galaxy S26 Ultra can achieve.

To learn more about our camera protocol testing methodology & services