Samsung’s move in the Galaxy S26 Ultra from the titanium frame used in the Galaxy S25 Ultra to an aluminum frame raises questions about the phone’s durability, especially since it is one of the company’s most prominent flagship phones.
To answer these questions, content creator PBKreviews published the usual drop test clip that reveals the phone’s endurance.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with several design changes. In addition to the new frame material, Samsung relies on more rounded corners compared to the previous generation, and the rear camera unit has become more prominent.
However, the phone maintains the same layers of protection used last year, as the screen is covered by Corning Gorilla Armor 2 while the back is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The first drop test shows some visible damage in the left corner of the frame, but the screen remains intact with no cracks. In the second fall, the impact breaks the glass covering the telephoto camera lens with 5x optical zoom.
The damage then worsens after the third fall, as the glass of that lens is completely shattered, in addition to additional scratches appearing around the frame.
Despite these damages, the phone continues to operate normally. Overall, the Galaxy S26 Ultra appears to withstand drops a little less than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it’s still able to keep working.
Along with the drop test, PBKreviews also posted a teardown clip of the phone revealing its internal components. The internal structure looks very similar to what we saw in the previous generation, and the disassembly steps are almost identical.
Coming to the mainboard, it becomes clear that Samsung added a larger amount of thermal paste to the back to improve heat management. It also shows a revised design of the vaporizing chamber, as it appears to be a similar size to the one on the Galaxy S25 Ultra but with a slightly different shape.
At the end of the test, the Galaxy S26 Ultra received a repairability rating of 9 out of 10, the same rating as the Galaxy S25 Ultra last year.
