Samsung Galaxy S27 Pro or Ultra? 7 key differences from the leaks

Samsung's 2027 flagship line appears to be growing from three phones to four. After weeks of CAD renders, certification filings and supply-chain chatter, the newcomer (the Galaxy S27 Pro) looks like the Ultra cut down to a smaller size. The leaks do show where Samsung made the cuts, though, and some of those choices may matter more to buyers than the size difference.

Galaxy S27 Pro vs S27 Ultra: Same look, different phones where it counts

A smaller "Ultra" without the pen, the periscope, or (in most of the world) the Snapdragon chip.

Confirmed enough to take seriously

The Pro is more solid than most rumours. Its existence has shifted from speculation to regulatory paperwork, with all four S27 models now showing up in the GSMA database. Internally, the four phones reportedly carry the codenames NM1 through NM4, with NM short for "Next Miracle." Most coverage places the Pro below the Ultra and above the S27+ on price, which would give Samsung a two-size premium tier similar to Apple's Pro and Pro Max.

Design: The Pro could look almost like an Ultra

The Galaxy S27 Pro and S27 Ultra are expected to share Samsung's most noticeable design change for 2027: a horizontal camera plateau replacing the company's familiar vertical camera arrangement, according to reports from Android Central.

Outline drawings attributed to leaker Ice Universe show the two phones with a closely related appearance, while the standard Galaxy S27 and S27+ are expected to retain a different design.

The biggest functional difference is more obvious: the Pro reportedly has no built-in S Pen.

The speaker grille and microphone hole are also said to swap positions, while both phones could get rounder frame edges.

Size is where the Pro should feel substantially different.

CAD-based renders put the Pro at 154.06 x 73.77 x 7.95mm, making it roughly 9mm shorter and 5mm narrower than the Ultra.

The exact screen size remains disputed. Current reports put the Pro's display anywhere from 6.47 to 6.7 inches, while the Ultra is expected to retain a 6.9-inch panel.

So while the two phones may look similar, the Pro is shaping up as the smaller of Samsung's two premium flagships.

The Pro may inherit one of the Ultra's biggest new features

One of the biggest surprises is the display. Samsung introduced Privacy Display as an S26 Ultra exclusive, but reports suggest the technology could move down to the S27 Pro.

According to reports citing ETNews, Samsung's Flex Magic Pixel technology could allow the Pro, like the Ultra, to make the screen harder to read from the side. The standard S27 and S27+ are reportedly being left out.

That would give the Pro a feature that currently distinguishes the Ultra from the rest of Samsung's lineup.

There could be another benefit. Reports suggest the underlying panel technology could also improve brightness and power efficiency, although those claims will need to be tested on final hardware.

Chip: This is where the Pro and Ultra really split

The biggest difference may not be something you can see.

Money Today reports from South Korea suggest the Galaxy S27 Pro will use Samsung's unannounced Exynos 2700 in most markets, while the Galaxy S27 Ultra is expected to use a custom Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 for Galaxy.

For buyers in the UAE, Europe, India and other markets outside North America, that could mean the Pro and Ultra use completely different processors.

The reported regional split is:

• Galaxy S27 Pro: Exynos 2700 in most markets

• Galaxy S27 Pro: Snapdragon in the US, Canada and Mexico

• Galaxy S27 Ultra: Snapdragon worldwide, according to current reports

The Exynos 2700 is reportedly being built using Samsung's SF2P process, with reports pointing to lower power consumption and higher clock speeds than the Exynos 2600.

A SemiAnalysis die shot has also reportedly shown a 10-core CPU, a 16-core Xclipse 970 GPU, a large NPU and 40MB of combined cache.

But specifications alone cannot establish how the two chips will compare in real-world use. Sustained performance, heat, battery efficiency, modem performance and AI workloads will need to be tested on finished phones.

For UAE buyers, however, the chipset difference could become one of the most important reasons to look beyond the Pro's similar appearance.

Cameras: The cheaper phone could have the zoom some users prefer

This is where Samsung's S27 lineup gets particularly unusual.

Both the Pro and Ultra are expected to use three rear cameras, with a reported 200MP main camera and 50MP ultrawide.

But their telephoto cameras could be very different.

Galaxy S27 Ultra

• 50MP telephoto

• 5x optical zoom

• No dedicated 3x camera, according to current reports

Galaxy S27 Pro

• 12MP telephoto

• 3x optical zoom

• Not a periscope camera, according to current leaks

If those reports are accurate, the S27 Ultra would be the first Galaxy S Ultra since 2021 to drop its dedicated 3x camera.

That creates an unusual situation: the cheaper Pro could offer a dedicated 3x optical camera that the Ultra does not.

Three-times zoom is particularly useful for portraits and closer subjects, while the Ultra's 5x camera is better suited to more distant subjects.

Samsung's Ultra would instead move from 1x to 5x as its two main optical focal lengths, relying more heavily on cropping and computational photography between them.

The reason for the change is not confirmed. Industry reporting from 9to5 Google, has linked it to camera-component costs and broader manufacturing pressure, while another report cited claims that smartphone camera hardware has reached a point of diminishing returns.

The Ultra could still have the more ambitious camera

While the Pro may retain 3x optical zoom, the Ultra is reportedly getting improvements elsewhere.

Ice Universe has claimed the S27 Ultra could produce warmer colours, handle bright highlights better and reduce noise in low-light photographs compared with the S26 Ultra.

It is not yet clear if the Pro will receive the same image processing.

That means the camera differences may ultimately be less about megapixels and more about which focal lengths and processing Samsung prioritises.

Battery: Both phones could get a major capacity boost

The battery story is much more straightforward.

China's 3C certification reportedly lists 60W wired charging for both the Pro and Ultra.

The S27 Ultra is expected to use a battery rated at 5,534mAh, which could be marketed as approximately 5,700mAh. That would be around 700mAh more than the S26 Ultra's 5,000mAh battery.

The Pro is reportedly getting a 5,087mAh rated battery, potentially marketed as around 5,200mAh.

That would mean the smaller S27 Pro could technically have a larger battery than the current S26 Ultra.

The Ultra's larger battery is also reportedly using silicon-carbon technology, although its real-world battery life will depend on the display, processor, software and power management as well as capacity.

Memory: Similar foundations, different ceilings

The Pro and Ultra are expected to share newer memory and storage standards, including LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.1 storage.

But the Ultra reportedly gets the higher configurations.

Current leaks point to:

S27 Ultra: up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage

S27 Pro: 12GB RAM, with fewer configuration options expected

For most buyers, the difference may be less immediately noticeable than the processor or camera setup, but it reinforces Samsung's positioning of the Ultra as the company's maximum-specification phone.

So what does the Pro actually give up?

The current leaks suggest a surprisingly short list:

S27 Pro reportedly keeps:

• The new premium design

• 200MP main camera

• 50MP ultrawide

• Privacy Display

• 60W charging

• A larger-than-S26 Ultra battery

• New-generation memory and storage

S27 Pro reportedly loses:

• Built-in S Pen

• 5x periscope camera

• Ultra's higher-end memory configurations

• Snapdragon in most markets

And then there is one unusual advantage:

The Pro reportedly retains a dedicated 3x optical camera while the Ultra drops it.

Galaxy S27 Pro vs S27 Ultra: What the leaks suggest

The Galaxy S27 Pro is shaping up to be less of a stripped-down flagship and more of a smaller premium alternative to the Ultra.

It reportedly gets the same visual identity, the same 200MP main camera, the same Privacy Display and the same 60W charging. Its smaller size could also make it considerably easier to handle.

But Samsung appears to be drawing the line at several features traditionally associated with the Ultra: the S Pen, the long-range 5x periscope and, in most markets, the Snapdragon processor.

The camera setup makes the comparison even less straightforward. The Ultra may have the more advanced long-range camera, but the Pro could be the only one of the two with dedicated 3x optical zoom.

Ultimately, the biggest unknown may be the Exynos 2700. Its specifications suggest a substantial new-generation chip, but there is no substitute for independent testing of performance, thermals, battery life and connectivity.

So, to sum up:

• Size: S27 Pro is smaller; S27 Ultra is the larger 6.9-inch model.

• S Pen: S27 Pro reportedly doesn't have a built-in S Pen; Ultra does.

• Display: Both are tipped to get Samsung's new Privacy Display, though the Ultra could retain some higher-end display advantages.

• Chip: Pro could see Exynos/Snapdragon market differences, while the Ultra is more consistently linked to Snapdragon in current reports.

• Cameras: Pro reportedly gets 3x optical zoom, while Ultra may drop the 3x lens and use a 50MP 5x periscope instead.

• Battery: Pro is tipped for around 5,200mAh; Ultra around 5,700mAh. Both are reportedly getting 60W charging.

• RAM/storage: Pro is expected to top out at 12GB RAM, while Ultra could offer 16GB RAM and up to 1TB storage.

Which should you wait for?

Wait for the Galaxy S27 Pro if you've always wanted Ultra-level hardware without the Ultra's size. According to the leaks, it keeps the parts most people care about: the same 200MP main camera, the Privacy Display, 60W charging, and a battery bigger than the current S26 Ultra's, all in a body that should be much easier to use with one hand. It's also the phone to wait for if you take a lot of portraits, because its 3x telephoto covers a focal length the new Ultra reportedly drops.

The Galaxy S27 Ultra still makes sense for two kinds of buyers. The first is anyone who uses the S Pen, since the Pro doesn't have one. The second is anyone who shoots at a distance, such as concerts, sports or wildlife, where the Ultra's 5x periscope should give sharper results.

For most people, the deciding factor will be price, which hasn't leaked yet. If Samsung prices the Pro well below the Ultra, it could become the S27 model to buy. If the gap is small, the Ultra's extra features will be easier to justify.