Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra may come with a crucial visual change

The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is nearly here, and the drip-feed of new info continues to emerge. For years now, Samsung has offered a black option for its Ultra flagship, including the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is currently available in Titanium Black, among other titanium-branded color schemes.

However, the company has never really offered a fully black Ultra flagship (except for the online-exclusive Titanium Jetblack), with the standard Galaxy S26 Ultra model using a silver frame. But that could change with the Galaxy S26 Ultra early next year.

According to one of the more reliable sources of Samsung leaks, Ice Universe/Phone Art, the black version of the Galaxy S26 Ultra will feature a black frame in place of the familiar silver. The leaker didn’t say whether this would be sold as an online exclusive, as with the Titanium Jetblack version of the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

As a result of this all-black color combination, the leaker claims the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s side bezels will appear thicker than they actually are. It’s unclear whether Samsung will match the frame and body paint on other colorways or offer the black frame across the board. If it’s the latter, the bezels might end up looking thicker regardless of the device’s color. g

Should this concern prospective buyers of the Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Probably not, given that Samsung is also expected to offer slimmer bezels on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and any perception of wider bezels would be an optical illusion.

But we can see how someone who doesn’t like thick bezels on their phone would think hard about getting the Galaxy S26 Ultra over this visual change. In any case, we recommend taking this information with a grain of salt until more evidence emerges, despite the source’s positive track record of accurately leaking Samsung-related info in the past.

There have been multiple leaks pertaining to the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s available color options, with one even suggesting the introduction of a bright orange colorway, not dissimilar to the Apple iPhone 17 Pro series’ Cosmic Orange variant.

As with most years, Apple’s color choice for its recently launched flagship has taken the world by storm (for some reason). So it’s not entirely surprising that Samsung and a few other Android smartphone makers may follow suit in 2026 and beyond.

Meanwhile, leaks about the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s hardware continue to drop, with the flagship expected to offer an unchanged peak brightness of 2,600 nits for its display, although it will finally make the jump to an M14 OLED panel.

We’ve also learned this month that the flagship may get a much-deserved boost to wireless charging speeds from 15W to 25W, while an upgrade to wired charging speeds is also rumored.

Fans may be in for some disappointment if they’re expecting camera improvements, although some leakers don’t agree on the breadth of the changes.