I bought the **Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 512GB** right after its launch, and I have to say that after two years with my good old **S24 Ultra**, it's a really noticeable leap forward - not revolutionary, but in key areas a very nice upgrade that you feel every day. I still get the biggest wow effect from **photo camera**. The main 200MP sensor has been given a f/1.4 aperture (compared to f/1.7 on the S24 Ultra) and the difference is really visible. Night photos are cleaner, have less noise, better detail in the shadows, and colors look more natural without Samsung overdoing it into overly saturated tones like before. **Nightography** is on a whole different level now - when I shoot in the city or at a concert in the evening, I get images that look like I'm carrying a full-frame camera with good glass. Also, the 5× telephoto lens (50MP) now has a brighter f/2.9 aperture, which means sharper zoom shots in low light and more pleasing bokeh in portraits. The ultra-wide angle lens has remained the same, but with better AI processing and a newer processor, it has less aberrations at the edges and better color consistency with the main sensor. Overall, I think the S26 Ultra is one of the best cameras on the market right now - consistent, versatile and clearly outperforms my old S24 Ultra in low-light scenes. The **processor performance** is another area where I feel a huge difference. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (the "for Galaxy" version) is a monster. Apps open instantly, multitasking with 10+ windows in DeX mode runs absolutely smoothly, and games like Genshin Impact or PUBG at maximum details run stably at 120 fps without any jerking or overheating. With the S24 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), I felt heating and occasional frame drops after a long gaming session - here it's gone. Benchmarks show roughly a 35-45% increase in both CPU and GPU performance, and the NPU in particular is much faster, which is evident in AI photo editing, real-time translation or content generation. 16 GB RAM (in my case) makes the system extremely responsive even under brutal load. And **system speed**? One UI 8.5 (built on Android 16) runs like butter. Animations are even smoother than on the S24 Ultra, scrolling is velvety, and touch response is instantaneous. The optimization is at such a level that even after a week of use, I don't feel that the phone is slowing down - unlike the S24 Ultra, where after a year and a half I already notice some micro-lag here and there. The speed of opening apps, switching between them and the overall "fly" feel is noticeably better. Add to that a slightly better anti-reflective coating on the 6.9″ display (almost no glare outside) and a lighter design (214g vs. 232 g for the S24 Ultra) - the phone feels more comfortable to hold. All in all - if you have an S24 Ultra and are happy, you don't necessarily need to upgrade right away. But if you want the best camera, brutal performance and a truly lightning-fast system in 2026, the S26 Ultra 512GB is worth it. For me, definitely the best phone I've ever had.