You may be used to endlessly fiddling with settings to get the best performance in any given game, but the Galaxy S26 Ultra actually does a lot of the hard work for you, behind the scenes.

Here’s our top five features that improve gaming on the Samsung Galaxy S26.

1. Expanded Vapour Chamber

Samsung have used the phrase “console in your pocket” to describe this new iteration of handsets and have implemented several upgrades to their tech to try to achieve this. Samsung have included a vapour chamber for heat management in their recent handsets: It’s a thin, vacuum-sealed metal plate containing a microscopic drop of liquid (usually water). When the phone runs heavy tasks, the liquid turns into vapor, spreads the heat evenly across the device, and condenses back into liquid to repeat the cooling cycle. The Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with their biggest vapour chamber to date, 23% bigger than the previous iteration. But what does that number mean for gaming? Better heat management means a device that handles demanding graphical features like ray tracing for longer without seeing a drop in framerates.

2. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy

And what of that processor? You’re looking at 19% faster CPU speeds, which, again, means faster loading times. GPU performance is up 24%, which should deliver higher frame rates and resolutions, and an improvement on its ability to handle more complex lighting effects and graphics. Crucially, the Neural Processing Unit (that’s the AI bit) is 39% faster than the last generation, which means improved AI-supported features1 like upscaling and frame interpolation, making for higher resolutions and more consistent frame rates.

3. Super Fast Charging 3.02

Despite the Galaxy S26 Ultra having its longest lasting battery to date, it will inevitably drain. That's less of a problem, as the handset can now get up to a 75% charge in around 30 minutes.

4. Precision mDNIe

The term “mDNIe” stands for “mobile Digital Natural Image engine” which is the smartphone iteration of the tech Samsung uses in their TV products. In a nutshell, it improves the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s ability to process colour and gradation so everything can look richer, darker, and more vibrant.

5. ProScaler3

The S26 Ultra's new ProScaler which uses AI to upscale whatever you’re looking at, so text and images will look sharp even in motion. The Galaxy S26 Ultra and the wide range of AI-supported tools it runs maximise the benefit you get from your hardware, and they work out of the box without needing to adjust any settings - so you can just get on with playing games.

DISCLAIMERS:

  1. Samsung account login is required for certain AI features. Galaxy AI features are provided for free. Future releases may include additional advanced features that are offered as part of a paid subscription plan. Different terms may apply for AI features provided by third parties.
  2. 60W Power Adapter sold separately
  3. ProScaler available on Galaxy S26 Ultra and Galaxy S26+ models only.

This article was not written by the Rock Paper Shotgun editorial team. You can learn more about sponsored content in our Editorial Policy. If you are an active RPS Supporter and you are seeing this post in error, contact the Editorial Director.