What’s happened? This week, China’s Quality Certification Center released information about a battery (EB-BS04898ABY) with a maximum capacity of 4,855mAh. That’s the same capacity as was previously seen in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and fans have taken this certification to mean the Galaxy S26 Ultra will not see a capacity increase after all.
- The Samsung Galaxy Ultra models have had the same battery capacity for the last five years.
- Despite its capacity being the same, the battery could perform better due to better optimization.
- Fans are still holding onto hope that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will support 65W fast charging.
Why this is important: For years, fans have hoped for greater battery capacities in the Ultra models. While Samsung models have larger batteries than iPhones, they still pale in comparison to models from other brands, or even dedicated devices like the Unihertz Tank 3 Pro, which boasts a 23,000mAh capacity.
- While unconfirmed, chances are high that the S26 Ultra will remain at the same capacity.
- The last time capacity increased was in 2020, when Samsung launched the S20 Ultra.
- New hardware could provide better performance, especially the 2nm chipset.
Why should I care? Although concerns over the battery capacity are valid, size might not matter. The Galaxy S25 Ultra performed well in our hands-on testing, and our reviewer said “the battery life and performance are exceptional.”
- The Galaxy S25 Ultra lasted two days on a single charge, so it’s reasonable to expect the same level of performance from the next iteration.
- The device also supported some of the fastest charging of anything in Samsung’s lineup.
- Even with the same battery capacity, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is almost guaranteed to launch with noteworthy improvements.
