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What you need to know
- A new teardown reveals that the Galaxy S26 Ultra quietly includes significant hardware changes, especially to the camera and cooling system.
- Samsung also increased the vapor chamber by about 15%, which helped the phone better manage heat during gaming, AI tasks, and video recording.
- The S25 Ultra’s anti-glare coating appears to be gone, possibly replaced by a new privacy screen that limits viewing angles.
Samsung spent a lot of time at Unpacked talking about AI, but a new teardown of the Galaxy S26 Ultra suggests that the hardware deserved more attention. Tech YouTuber Zack Nelson discovered that Samsung made several major hardware changes, especially to the camera and cooling system.
The video shows how the phone is disassembled step by step, highlighting what Samsung is like working to improve camera performance and cooling in a slimmer device.
One of the main finds is inside the zoom camera. The Galaxy S26 Ultra still has a 50MP 5x periscope telephoto camera, much like the previous Ultra model. However, Samsung changed the internal design with a new design called ALOP (All Lenses On Prism).
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In most periscope cameras, a prism sits in front of the lens stack and blocks some of the incoming light. Samsung changed this on the S26 Ultra, placing the lenses directly over the prism to allow more light to reach the sensor.
This new design comes with a brighter aperture of f/2.9, compared to f/3.4 on the last model. Nelson mentions that the camera can now capture about 37% more light.
The camera module is also about 22% shorter, allowing Samsung to fit better optics into a slimmer phone. This additional light should help improve nightography and zoom photography in low light conditions.
Cooling gets a significant upgrade
The teardown also shows a larger cooling system, which power users will like. Samsung increased the vapor chamber by about 15% and it now takes up more space inside the phone.
This is important because modern flagship chips get very hot during gaming, AI tasks, and recording high-resolution videos. A larger vapor chamber distributes heat more efficiently, helping the phone remain stable during heavy use.
The teardown signals a small but smart change to the S Pen’s casing. Samsung separated the stylus slot from the internal parts of the phone with a sealed design. This means that if liquid gets into the S Pen slot, it shouldn’t reach the rest of the phone.
Interestingly, the slot itself has changed slightly. The stylus used in the previous model does not fit properly inside the S26 Ultra’s new casing, suggesting that Samsung modified the dimensions of the design this year.
Some hidden engineering quirks
They can’t keep this private – Samsung S26 Ultra Teardown – YouTube
Looking closer, there are some unique features. Inside the speaker modules, Samsung added small balls to help reduce the thin, “tinny” sound that small smartphone speakers often have.
Meanwhile, the teardown also shows a missing feature. The Galaxy S25 Ultra had a strong anti-glare coating, but it seems to be missing on the S26 Ultra. Nelson believes the coating may have conflicted with the new Privacy Screen, which reduces viewing angles to keep content private. Samsung has not confirmed this yet.
Another point of the teardown is that this phone is not too difficult to repair. You can remove the back panel with heat and the battery is fairly easy to replace. This is good news for repair shops and for people who like to fix things themselves.
Android Central’s opinion
Samsung didn’t make any major design changes this year, which could disappoint anyone wanting a new look. Still, updates like a brighter periscope camera, better cooling, and smarter protection make the phone more reliable for everyday use. The teardown shows that flagship phones are now more about small improvements than big changes. Whether this is exciting or boring depends on your point of view, but if these updates mean better photos and less overheating, most users will be happy with the trade-off.
