The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is gearing up for an early 2026 launch, and battery upgrades are finally making headlines – but don’t expect a revolution. According to recent leaks, Samsung is bumping up the battery from the S25 Ultra’s 5,000mAh to 5,500mAh. 
That’s a modest 10% increase, which still lags behind the 6,000mAh+ powerhouses regularly seen in Chinese flagships. For many, this bump is the bare minimum – overdue and underwhelming.
However, what’s more exciting is the expected introduction of 65W fast charging – finally breaking the longstanding 45W ceiling that Samsung fans have lived under for years. While real-world charging times remain unconfirmed, this marks Samsung’s first serious step into the modern charging arena, where competitors have comfortably cruised for quite a while.
The S26 Ultra is also said to support the new Qi2 wireless standard at 25W, a record for Samsung’s wireless speeds. So yes, wired and wireless charging are both seeing long-needed improvements. The catch? Samsung is expected to continue its no-charger-in-the-box policy
. That means anyone wanting to hit those new speeds will need to fork out extra for a separate 65W adapter – in line with the company’s sustainability pitch, or as some users call it, ‘sustainable profit-making.’
Interestingly, despite the larger battery, the S26 Ultra may end up slimmer than the S25 Ultra’s 8.2mm thickness. This could hint at new battery technology in play, potentially paving the way for future breakthroughs like silicon-carbon batteries.
Still, while this is a small evolution and not a revolution, it signals that Samsung is at least starting to catch up – even if it’s playing a careful, conservative game. For power users who’ve long envied the raw endurance and charging speeds of other Android flagships, the S26 Ultra might finally feel less like a compromise.