Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has taken the top spot in US Consumer Reports latest smartphone rankings, scoring 88 points and leaving every major competitor behind, including Apple.

Three straight years now: the S24 Ultra won US Consumer Reports ranking, then the S25 Ultra and now the Galaxy S26 Ultra. That kind of sustained dominance doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen because a marketing team got lucky with their timing.

How good is 88 points?

To put it plainly: the iPhone 17 Pro Max scored 86. Consumer Reports doesn’t hand out scores generously, and in a ranking system this strict, two points is the difference between best-in-class and also-ran.

The S25 Ultra and S24 Ultra both sit at 87, which means Samsung is essentially lapping itself while Apple watches from two steps back. That’s embarrassing for the iPhone maker.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra clocked 51.5 hours in Consumer Reports’ testing, the only device in the top 30 to pull a perfect battery score. People forget that most flagship phones are mediocre on endurance because vendors chase thinness and benchmark bragging rights.

The S26 Ultra has emerged at the top of consumer rankings in the UK, France, Italy, and Spain. Samsung’s regional playbook varies, leaning into NCAA partnerships in the United States while pushing privacy messaging in Europe, but the hardware doesn’t change.

Three consecutive years at the top of one of America’s most scrutinized consumer publications is a statement about process, not luck.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is still an exceptional device, and 86 points is nothing to dismiss. But right now, Samsung holds the line, defends it annually, and keeps widening the distance.

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