What you need to know
- A new teardown reveals that the Galaxy S26 Ultra quietly packs meaningful hardware changes, especially to the camera and cooling system.
- Samsung also increased the vapor chamber by roughly 15%, helping the phone manage heat better during gaming, AI tasks, and video recording.
- The anti-glare coating from the S25 Ultra appears to be gone, possibly replaced by a new Privacy Display that limits viewing angles.
Samsung spent a lot of time at Unpacked talking about AI, but a fresh teardown of the Galaxy S26 Ultra suggests the hardware deserved more attention. Tech YouTuber Zack Nelson found that Samsung made several important hardware changes, especially to the camera and cooling system.
The video shows the phone being taken apart step by step, highlighting how Samsung is working to improve camera performance and cooling in a slimmer device.
One of the main findings 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 layout 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 incoming light. Samsung changed this in the S26 Ultra, placing the lenses directly on the prism so more light reaches the sensor.
This new design comes with a brighter f/2.9 aperture, compared to f/3.4 in the last model. Nelson mentions that the camera can now capture about 37% more light.
The camera module is also about 22% shorter, which lets Samsung fit better optics into a thinner phone. This extra light should help improve Nightography and low-light zoom photos.
Cooling gets a meaningful 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 matters because modern flagship chips get very hot during gaming, AI tasks, and high-res video recording. A bigger vapor chamber spreads heat more efficiently, helping the phone stay stable during heavy use.
The teardown points out a small but smart change to the S Pen housing. Samsung separated the stylus slot from the phone’s internal parts with a sealed design. This means if liquid gets into the S Pen slot, it should not reach the rest of the phone.
Interestingly, the slot itself has changed slightly. The stylus used in the previous model doesn’t sit properly inside the new S26 Ultra housing, suggesting Samsung tweaked the design dimensions this year.
A few hidden engineering quirks
Looking closer, there are some unique features. Inside the speaker modules, Samsung added tiny balls to help reduce the thin, “tinny” sound that small smartphone speakers often have.
Meanwhile, the teardown also brings up a missing feature. The Galaxy S25 Ultra had a strong anti-glare coating, but it seems to be missing on the S26 Ultra. Nelson thinks the coating may have conflicted with the new Privacy Display, which narrows viewing angles to keep content private. Samsung has not confirmed this yet.
Another point from the teardown is that this phone is not too hard to repair. You can remove the back panel with heat, and the battery is fairly easy to replace. That’s good news for repair shops and people who like to fix things themselves.
Android Central’s Take
Samsung did not make big design changes this year, which might let down anyone wanting a new look. Still, upgrades like a brighter periscope camera, better cooling, and smarter protection make the phone more reliable for daily use. The teardown shows that flagship phones are now more about small improvements than big changes. Whether that is exciting or boring depends on your view, but if these updates mean better photos and less overheating, most users will be happy with the trade-off.
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