Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra used and refurbished

If you bought the S25 Ultra, you'll remember the titanium frame as one of the reasons it was worth paying extra. Samsung dropped it for the S26 Ultra, yet the phone is still thinner and lighter than its predecessor. And the biggest change isn't in the body anyway – it's in the screen.

In this category you'll find the used and refurbished Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra – the largest model in the S26 line-up and the only one with an S Pen. The category page lists 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB versions in black, white, silver, blue, violet and pink gold. SWOPiFY partners check every unit before it goes on sale and send it in for repair when needed.

What do you get with the Galaxy S26 Ultra?

The screen is 6.9 inches, QHD+, with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. Switch on Privacy Display and the person sitting next to you sees an almost black screen, while you see a normal picture. It works at pixel level, with no film on the glass, and you turn it off with a single toggle.

Inside is a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 tuned for Galaxy – in European units too, because the Ultra is the only S26 model that didn't get an Exynos here. The 256 and 512 GB versions have 12 GB of RAM, the 1 TB version 16 GB. On the back there are four cameras: a 200 MP main camera with an f/1.4 aperture, a 50 MP ultra-wide, a 50 MP periscope with 5x zoom and a 10 MP with 3x zoom. The battery is 5000 mAh. The frame is aluminium, the front is covered by Gorilla Armor 2 glass and the body is rated IP68.

S26 Ultra or S25 Ultra – what's changed?

Less than the new number suggests, but you'll notice the changes in everyday use:

• 60 W wired charging instead of 45 W – according to GSMArena, 75% in half an hour – and 25 W wireless instead of 15 W;
• Privacy Display, which the S25 Ultra doesn't have;
• brighter lenses: f/1.4 on the main camera instead of f/1.7, and f/2.9 on the periscope instead of f/3.4;
• aluminium instead of titanium, at 7.9 mm thick instead of 8.2 mm and 214 g instead of 218 g;
• a slimmer S Pen with a bevelled button that matches the rounded frame.

Battery capacity, screen size, camera resolutions and the lack of Bluetooth in the S Pen stay the same. If photos are your main concern, a refurbished S25 Ultra will give you similar results. Paying more makes sense if you want faster charging, the privacy filter and updates that run a year longer than on the previous model. The S26+, on the other hand, costs less and weighs 190 g, but it has no S Pen, no 5x zoom and no Privacy Display, and in Europe it runs on the Exynos 2600.

Why consider a refurbished S26 Ultra?

A refurbished Galaxy S26 Ultra costs less than the same model bought new, and it's a phone with a few months of use behind it at most. With the money you save you can go for 512 GB instead of 256 GB – and with 200 MP photos and long videos, that extra space comes in handy fast.

A flagship from this year's launch that changes hands keeps working instead of sitting in a drawer. That doesn't make buying it a fully green choice, but it does extend the life of a device that has already been made.

What should you look out for with the S26 Ultra?

Qi2.2 wireless charging only works with magnetic chargers if you use a case with magnets, because the phone itself has none. The S Pen only goes in one way round – put it in backwards and it won't lock, but the button will stick out. Samsung promises seven major OS updates and seven years of security patches for this model. The phone launched with Android 16 and now already runs Android 17 and One UI 9.

In this category you can filter smartphones by:

• storage – 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB;
• RAM – 12 GB or 16 GB;
• colour;
• price range;
• condition.

If you record a lot of video, don't start with 256 GB – there's no microSD slot. If you keep your photos in the cloud, the base storage will be plenty.

Can you trust a refurbished S26 Ultra?

Refurbished Galaxy S26 Ultra phones are used phones, even if after a few months they look fresh out of the box. We don't sell them as new and never suggest otherwise. SWOPiFY partners check every unit, and its condition is described by one of four grades: Premium, Excellent, Good or Fair. Each grade has set requirements for appearance, battery and the parts used.

Your purchase comes with a warranty. If something stops working, you know who to turn to – unlike after a deal with a stranger from a classified ad.

Got a phone you'd like to trade in for the Ultra?

Hand it in through the trade-in programme and the amount you get for your old smartphone will bring down the cost of your new one. No need to post an ad or arrange meetings with buyers.

Browse the available Galaxy S26 Ultra units and pick the storage that will hold a few years' worth of photos and videos.