To find out, a YouTuber committed to performing a highly in-depth speed test and not just includes the company’s top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra, but the latter is compared to five previous generations of the Korean giant’s flagships.
However, even those milliseconds matter a ton to users who want to obtain the best experience from their flagship purchase.
As for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S21 Ultra, it appears that the chipset differences and cooling capabilities were the limiting factors, especially given that, with the exception of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, every other model is equipped with 12GB RAM.
Image credits - PhoneBuffYou’re free to check out the entire speed test below from start to finish, but we’ve mentioned the total time for each Galaxy S Ultra model below, with the Galaxy S26 Ultra being the unsurprising victor of this gauntlet with a 10-second victory over the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
Each generation of a Samsung flagship smartphone release witnesses a specifications upgrade, and while those are impressive on paper, how well do those internal improvements translate into real-world performance? To find out, a YouTuber committed to performing a highly in-depth speed test and not just includes the company’s top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra, but the latter is compared to five previous generations of the Korean giant’s flagships. In short, we’ll be taking a look at one of the biggest comparisons of the year.
Despite Samsung keeping the RAM count limited to 12GB on nearly all Galaxy S Ultra models, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s chipset upgrade helps keep it ahead, especially in more demanding workloads like AI models
In the majority of the tests, PhoneBuff has shown that the smallest differences were displayed between the three previous-generation Galaxy S Ultra releases, and while the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the fastest among them, even the more demanding tasks had a minute speed delta. However, even those milliseconds matter a ton to users who want to obtain the best experience from their flagship purchase.
As for the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Galaxy S21 Ultra, it appears that the chipset differences and cooling capabilities were the limiting factors, especially given that, with the exception of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, every other model is equipped with 12GB RAM. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is able to extend its lead in those ultra-taxing workloads such as when running AI models, a more powerful GPU, increased RAM, better NPU, and an improved operating system goes a long way in reducing the processing time.
Image credits - PhoneBuff
You’re free to check out the entire speed test below from start to finish, but we’ve mentioned the total time for each Galaxy S Ultra model below, with the Galaxy S26 Ultra being the unsurprising victor of this gauntlet with a 10-second victory over the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Hopefully, we get to witness a bigger gap with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro for the Galaxy S27 Ultra launches in early 2027, and perhaps with some luck, Samsung will offer 16GB of RAM to deliver unparalleled capabilities from its upcoming flagship.
Galaxy S21 Ultra (Snapdragon 888, 12GB RAM) - 6 minutes and 53 seconds
- 6 minutes and 53 seconds Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 12GB RAM) - 6 minutes and 56 seconds
- 6 minutes and 56 seconds Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 8GB RAM) - 6 minutes and 28 seconds
- 6 minutes and 28 seconds Galaxy S24 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 12GB RAM) - 5 minutes and 1 second
- 5 minutes and 1 second Galaxy S25 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Elite, 12GB RAM - 4 minutes and 52 seconds
- 4 minutes and 52 seconds Galaxy S26 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, 12GB RAM) - 4 minutes and 42 seconds
After checking out the test, if you feel that you need every possible speed advantage, the Galaxy S26 Ultra can be yours at an absolutely mouth-watering $250 off, thanks to online retailers like Amazon.
News Source: PhoneBuff
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
