Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra loses to rival flagship phones in battery drain test
Samsung's new Galaxy S26 Ultra is the company's seventh "Ultra" phone and also features a 5,000 mAh battery like all its predecessors. While efficiency improves year-on-year, a new battery drain test indicates that Samsung needs to equip its future phones with larger batteries regardless.
As tested by Tech Droider, the Galaxy S26 Ultra finishes close to the bottom of the pile in a battery endurance test with current flagships from other brands. To be exact, the Galaxy S26 Ultra only finishes ahead of the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. That phone managed a time of 8h22m on the test, with the Galaxy S26 Ultra making it to 9h08m.
It's downhill from there for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, though, as it's edged past by the iPhone 17 Pro Max (9h41m), the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max (10h03m), and the OnePlus 15 at a massive 12h31m. Tangentially, last year's Galaxy S25 Ultra delivered a time of 8h40m, splitting the times the Pixel 10 Pro XL and the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
While a single battery drain test isn't to be considered empirical, the numbers all point to one conclusion: future Samsung phones must offer larger batteries if they're to remain competitive on this front. The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, for example, features a 7,500 mAh unit while the OnePlus 15 is equipped with a 7,300 mAh battery. Thankfully, it appears Samsung has plans of that sort already, with recent confirmation of sorts that the company will be adopting the Silicon-Carbon chemistry now favored by rival brands.
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