Samsung S26 Ultra/S26/S26 Plus

[jamezr]

I am impressed with the camera for moving objects like these birds on the beach. They are constantly running with the waves. There has been no motion blur so far even with a 5x zoom and the waves

 

[maka344]

Ah, hell. Just started the return on my OP 15 (since their US presence imploded) and ordered a new Ultra. I don't like the possibility of never seeing another security or software update on the phone. Guess I'm team Samsung now. I'm sure I'll be here with questions this weekend. The only "feel bad" about this is how much more the phone costs for only ¾ of the memory.

If any of you folks want to do a write up on useful Good Lock features/modules (thanks Harthag!) or other useful software specific to Samsung, I'd appreciate it! I have a feeling I can use the entirety of this thread as one-stop shopping for getting my phone completely set up tomorrow, lol.

A good feature is call screening just like the Pixel. That's not available on the OP.

 

[ToddH]

Geez! Talk about back luck or bad mabmnufactuing with these Samsung S26 ultra phones.

So, I'm on my FOURTH S26 Ulta 512gb phone for camera problems. The 1x camera was at fault. I purchased these & exchanged them at Best Buy. I chose the Sky Blue color and all three that I received had the blurry crappy image quality, mainly at the top of the frame of a vertical image. So I'm thinking of a bad coma flaw in the camera optics or a alignment issue with the imaging sensor. A fourth one is on the way Via FedEx for Tuesday delivery. However, I went to Best Buy again today and just purchased a new one there, got the violet color this time. When the shipped phone comes in, I'll take it to Best Buy for a refund / return since I have this purple color. I have thoroughly tested this one & it has exceptional image quality from all cameras. Definitely a bad batch of S26 ultra phones & were probably assembled on a Monday or Friday LOL.

This experience has stressed me out a bit. I'm glad this unit is working properly. I have a tall sweet gum tree in the front yard, with the previous S26, I would get the whole tree in frame, focus on the center and take the photo. The center & base were very sharp & clean. The top was mush and distorted. I probably took 50 photos of this tree after changing camera settings / optioins. I even performed a factory reset, no help though. My Black S26 ultra is perfect in comparison when a photo of the same tree was taken with it. So, I'm pleased that this phone is performing to my standards.

So have any of you S26 ultra owners experienced this camera issue? I thought it was odd that all three I used had the same camera problem, some worse than others. I showed the managers & Geek Squad personnel the images & they agreed the cameras were defective. Just weird and a lot of wasted time for me.

 

[ThrawnTHX]

Okay, been messing with the phone for a solid day and I've got opinions! The camera is phenomenal. The OP15 was acceptable. This...this is something else entirely. So far, the only Samsung apps I'm a fan of are the wallet (just for my primary credit card) and the phone app. The phone app does more to bring parity to Apple than anything else I've seen implemented just by the virtues of Direct Voicemail alone. I know it has limitations, and I'm experimenting with having Google Voice as a backup for no service situations.

And the not so brilliant stuff...So, OneUI 8.5 doesn't look bad. And it's not short of settings, especially once I fired up Good Lock. Even though it's so much better than what I last experienced in the Touch Wiz days, I can't help but feel that the whole thing has a "cobbled together" feel to it.

Niagara Launcher was my answer. Love it and it plays nice with the side bar thingy, which is a plus. I guess I'm just not the target audience for things like the S Pen and Secure Folder, either. I'd rather see the phone be a real flagship with big boy RAM on all storage configurations. But, I have no real complaints. Seems solid enough!

Edit for an accessory comment: avoid the Ferilinso screen protectors on Amazon. The manufacturer is refunding everyone for changing their negative reviews. The screen protector completely negates the ability to effectively use fingerprints (and yes, I increased sensitivity and added them back in after putting on the protector). I ended up with a phone that I had to mash my thumb against with at least 5 lbs of pressure in order to have a 20% success rate. Oh, and no oleophobic properties, blech.

 

[ToddH]

Okay, been messing with the phone for a solid day and I've got opinions! The camera is phenomenal. The OP15 was acceptable. This...this is something else entirely. So far, the only Samsung apps I'm a fan of are the wallet (just for my primary credit card) and the phone app. The phone app does more to bring parity to Apple than anything else I've seen implemented just by the virtues of Direct Voicemail alone. I know it has limitations, and I'm experimenting with having Google Voice as a backup for no service situations.

And the not so brilliant stuff...So, OneUI 8.5 doesn't look bad. And it's not short of settings, especially once I fired up Good Lock. Even though it's so much better than what I last experienced in the Touch Wiz days, I can't help but feel that the whole thing has a "cobbled together" feel to it.

Niagara Launcher was my answer. Love it and it plays nice with the side bar thingy, which is a plus. I guess I'm just not the target audience for things like the S Pen and Secure Folder, either. I'd rather see the phone be a real flagship with big boy RAM on all storage configurations. But, I have no real complaints. Seems solid enough!

Edit for an accessory comment: avoid the Ferilinso screen protectors on Amazon. The manufacturer is refunding everyone for changing their negative reviews. The screen protector completely negates the ability to effectively use fingerprints (and yes, I increased sensitivity and added them back in after putting on the protector). I ended up with a phone that I had to mash my thumb against with at least 5 lbs of pressure in order to have a 20% success rate. Oh, and no oleophobic properties, blech.

As I noted, I'm on my 4th phone. I didn't have fingerprint issues, but I'll pass on a tip i learned from someone. Add additional fingerprint readings (of the same finger or thumb) when a glass protector is used. I have added up to three fingerprint reading for my thumb & now the reader is fast. I'm using the Prism glass made by Dbrand and it's very good. So try adding more readings with the same finger. Let us know if that works

 

[ThrawnTHX]

As I noted, I'm on my 4th phone. I didn't have fingerprint issues, but I'll pass on a tip i learned from someone. Add additional fingerprint readings (of the same finger or thumb) when a glass protector is used. I have added up to three fingerprint reading for my thumb & now the reader is fast. I'm using the Prism glass made by Dbrand and it's very good. So try adding more readings with the same finger. Let us know if that works

Yeah, I did that too. It didn't help. That particular brand just isn't very good. I'll probably check out a Dbrand, Ringke, or Spigen. Sometimes it's worth the added cost of using a respected brand.

 

[ToddH]

Yeah, I did that too. It didn't help. That particular brand just isn't very good. I'll probably check out a Dbrand, Ringke, or Spigen. Sometimes it's worth the added cost of using a respected brand.

Ok, one other thing that I noticed with fingerprint connectivity is that usually my thumbs and hands are fairly dry, and when I have dry skin , it doesn't work until I lick my thumb and touch it to the screen , then it will read my fingerprint. So I have to make sure that I don't have over dry skin.

 

[ThrawnTHX]

Ok, one other thing that I noticed with fingerprint connectivity is that usually my thumbs and hands are fairly dry, and when I have dry skin , it doesn't work until I lick my thumb and touch it to the screen , then it will read my fingerprint. So I have to make sure that I don't have over dry skin.

Then I wish all of us in New Mexico good luck. It's pretty dry here! 😉

 

[ToddH]

Then I wish all of us in New Mexico good luck. It's pretty dry here! 😉

Yes it is... I'm in southeast Texas where the humidity is high along with the temperatures which makes being outdoors worse. I've been to Fort Davis, TX many times for the Texas Star Party and there is little to no humidity there during the day in the month of May when TSP takes place. I can't stand the humidity here!!

 

[scott craft]

Yes it is... I'm in southeast Texas where the humidity is high along with the temperatures which makes being outdoors worse. I've been to Fort Davis, TX many times for the Texas Star Party and there is little to no humidity there during the day in the month of May when TSP takes place. I can't stand the humidity here!!

I'm in southwest Louisiana and I feel the same as you about humidity.

 

[scott craft]

Yeah, I did that too. It didn't help. That particular brand just isn't very good. I'll probably check out a Dbrand, Ringke, or Spigen. Sometimes it's worth the added cost of using a respected brand.

This is the brand I have on my Pixel and my wife and son's iPhones. They seem to work pretty well and they're relatively inexpensive.

 

[Harthag]

Geez! Talk about back luck or bad mabmnufactuing with these Samsung S26 ultra phones.

So, I'm on my FOURTH S26 Ulta 512gb phone for camera problems. The 1x camera was at fault. I purchased these & exchanged them at Best Buy. I chose the Sky Blue color and all three that I received had the blurry crappy image quality, mainly at the top of the frame of a vertical image. So I'm thinking of a bad coma flaw in the camera optics or a alignment issue with the imaging sensor. A fourth one is on the way Via FedEx for Tuesday delivery. However, I went to Best Buy again today and just purchased a new one there, got the violet color this time. When the shipped phone comes in, I'll take it to Best Buy for a refund / return since I have this purple color. I have thoroughly tested this one & it has exceptional image quality from all cameras. Definitely a bad batch of S26 ultra phones & were probably assembled on a Monday or Friday LOL.

This experience has stressed me out a bit. I'm glad this unit is working properly. I have a tall sweet gum tree in the front yard, with the previous S26, I would get the whole tree in frame, focus on the center and take the photo. The center & base were very sharp & clean. The top was mush and distorted. I probably took 50 photos of this tree after changing camera settings / optioins. I even performed a factory reset, no help though. My Black S26 ultra is perfect in comparison when a photo of the same tree was taken with it. So, I'm pleased that this phone is performing to my standards.

So have any of you S26 ultra owners experienced this camera issue? I thought it was odd that all three I used had the same camera problem, some worse than others. I showed the managers & Geek Squad personnel the images & they agreed the cameras were defective. Just weird and a lot of wasted time for me.

What can I do to test this issue on my phone? Just point and shoot with the 1x camera?

 

[Harthag]

Okay, been messing with the phone for a solid day and I've got opinions! The camera is phenomenal. The OP15 was acceptable. This...this is something else entirely. So far, the only Samsung apps I'm a fan of are the wallet (just for my primary credit card) and the phone app. The phone app does more to bring parity to Apple than anything else I've seen implemented just by the virtues of Direct Voicemail alone. I know it has limitations, and I'm experimenting with having Google Voice as a backup for no service situations.

And the not so brilliant stuff...So, OneUI 8.5 doesn't look bad. And it's not short of settings, especially once I fired up Good Lock. Even though it's so much better than what I last experienced in the Touch Wiz days, I can't help but feel that the whole thing has a "cobbled together" feel to it.

Niagara Launcher was my answer. Love it and it plays nice with the side bar thingy, which is a plus. I guess I'm just not the target audience for things like the S Pen and Secure Folder, either. I'd rather see the phone be a real flagship with big boy RAM on all storage configurations. But, I have no real complaints. Seems solid enough!

Edit for an accessory comment: avoid the Ferilinso screen protectors on Amazon. The manufacturer is refunding everyone for changing their negative reviews. The screen protector completely negates the ability to effectively use fingerprints (and yes, I increased sensitivity and added them back in after putting on the protector). I ended up with a phone that I had to mash my thumb against with at least 5 lbs of pressure in order to have a 20% success rate. Oh, and no oleophobic properties, blech.

Give it some time to settle in, I felt the OP15 felt cobbled together with a lot of half-baked features compared to Samsung. One thing I really loved on the OP15 and Oppo was that native AI summarize worked with any internet browser. I use Samsung's default browser on my S26U so no issues on that front, but that aspect of AI was really nicely implemented on the OP / Oppo phones.

I've never pulled the S-Pen out of the socket. As far as Good Lock goes, I use Camera Assistant, Sound Assistant, Home Up (the best, imo), Lock Star, and Clock Face. Make sure to set the default camera setting to 24mp since it's set to 12mp out of the box.

 

[ToddH]

What can I do to test this issue on my phone? Just point and shoot with the 1x camera?

Im willing bet yours is fine, but find a tall tree or utility pole and nearly fill the frame with it. This tree in my yard for example was blurry at the top but sharp at the bottom- i focused in the middle (touch to focus) & my treetop image was distorted. This image loaded wasn't from the bad unit, but from the good one. I always usually shoot at 200mp, however the distortion was seen at all resolutions. The full tree shot here is not the bad one, this one is clean. I just want to show you how to frame the subject. Further up in this thread i posted a sample from the first S26 ultra I purchased with bad image quality. Post #456, it's on the previous page. Frame the tree like this as seen below. My distortion was at the top from each S26 I tested

 

[Harthag]

Im willing bet yours is fine, but find a tall tree or utility pole and nearly fill the frame with it. This tree in my yard for example was blurry at the top but sharp at the bottom- i focused in the middle (touch to focus) & my treetop image was distorted. This image loaded wasn't from the bad unit, but from the good one. I always usually shoot at 200mp, however the distortion was seen at all resolutions. The full tree shot here is not the bad one, this one is clean. I just want to show you how to frame the subject. Further up in this thread i posted a sample from the first S26 ultra I purchased with bad image quality. Post #456, it's on the previous page. Frame the tree like this as seen below. My distortion was at the top from each S26 I tested

View attachment 2618226

Got it and yes I viewed your older images, those were horrible. I don't think mine has the issue, haven't noticed anything off. Got mine via pre-order from Amazon fwiw, likely bad batches out there. Took some quick photos by my office, best I can do at the moment (no trees here). Taken with the 1x camera and didn't press the screen to focus for any of them.

 

[ToddH]

Got it and yes I viewed your older images, those were horrible. I don't think mine has the issue, haven't noticed anything off. Got mine via pre-order from Amazon fwiw, likely bad batches out there. Took some quick photos by my office, best I can do at the moment (no trees here). Taken with the 1x camera and didn't press the screen to focus for any of them.

View attachment 2618260View attachment 2618261View attachment 2618259View attachment 2618262

Yeah those look good. I would see the distortion when my image was viewed at 100% or more at the top at 200mp. But these look fine. Definitely a bad batch of three I went through.

 

[ThrawnTHX]

Got a galaxy 8 classic to go with the phone. I know, i new one is a few months out, but it was on sale and had some Amazon gift cards to burn. Anyway, in my limited time with it, it’s much better than the OP watch 3. Software is much less janky, although jury is still out on battery life. And unlike most reviewers, i actually like the lug connection. Faster than most of I’ve dealt with including Apple Watches.

 

[ToddH]

Sup?

So I just tested quick share from the S26 Ultra to my Wife's iPhone 17 pro. It worked, but it was very slow, a couple minutes. I sent a 37mb jpeg image, 200mp. Not real impressive. Android to android using quick share is very fast.

So is this slow paced airdrop / quick share the same for you folks that have tested it? Can it go faster?

 

[aggie99]

Sup?

So I just tested quick share from the S26 Ultra to my Wife's iPhone 17 pro. It worked, but it was very slow, a couple minutes. I sent a 37mb jpeg image, 200mp. Not real impressive. Android to android using quick share is very fast.

So is this slow paced airdrop / quick share the same for you folks that have tested it? Can it go faster?

I've tested a couple using my Pixel to my 17PM. It appears to be a bit slower and not quite as seamless of a process but man, it's a step in the right direction.

 

[edubfromktown]

I've tested a couple using my Pixel to my 17PM. It appears to be a bit slower and not quite as seamless of a process but man, it's a step in the right direction.

I use Local Send between Android, Chromebook, iOS and macOS. Works like a champ!

 

[Bkdodger]

I use Local Send between Android, Chromebook, iOS and macOS. Works like a champ!

I find this one the best between all my devices

 

[scott craft]

I've done airdrop from my Pixel to my wife's iPhone and vice versa to try it. It works but would be easier if the phones didn't have to be set to "everyone for 10 minutes". It's a start though.

 

[Steve Adams]

I can't wait to try Dex now after the wife is finished work so I can plug into her dock.

 

[Dominican]

anyone having screen issue i was reading about it

 

[ThrawnTHX]

anyone having screen issue i was reading about it

None here. Screen is great. Privacy Display works great (and the conditions for it triggering are awesome) I know some people are sensitive to the lower power modulation on the screen, but most smart phones on the market have that same "problem."