Slip the Galaxy S27 Ultra dummy into a Galaxy S26 Ultra case and it almost works. The body drops in and the buttons line up, and then the camera cutouts land in the wrong place, because the back of this phone is a different shape from the one Samsung ships today. The phone pictured above is the S26 Ultra, the current model; the S27 Ultra so far exists only as this dummy.
The dummy is an empty 3D-printed shell built from leaked CAD files. In the leak’s comparison photos it sits beside the Galaxy S26 Ultra, iPhone 18 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro, and the difference is all in the back: three camera openings inside a wide horizontal bar, where the S26 Ultra runs a tall vertical layout. Our May 2026 Galaxy S27 rumor roundup covered the earlier speculation about the 2027 lineup.
Price: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, black, 256GB, US unlocked, $1,142.79
Where to buy: Amazon
Will my S26 Ultra case fit the S27 Ultra?
Short answer: no. The CAD dimensions are 163.76 x 78.25 x 7.97mm against the S26 Ultra’s 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm, which makes the dummy a hair taller, a hair wider and a hair thicker than the phone it replaces, and it still drops into the old case like it belongs there.
The case is not the problem. The camera cutouts are. The bar sits high and wide across the back, so the old case’s vertical camera opening covers part of the new layout, and by the leak’s own estimate, roughly 99% of S26 Ultra cases come out incompatible with the redesign. A case with the whole top cut out might survive the swap. Count on replacing yours.
Measurements are the dummy’s whole job. Case makers build from CAD files months before a phone ships, and dimensions from files like these tend to hold up even when the final colors and materials do not. The dummy is the strongest evidence in this leak, because the shell exists to be measured.
If you need the phone now, the S26 Ultra is the one in the box above, and Vincent’s Galaxy S26 Ultra hands-on covers its Privacy Display and how the current phone feels in use.
Does the new camera bar stick out?
Yes, in two layers. The bar itself rises off the back panel, and a raised bump sits on top of it, with raised rings around the three camera openings and the lenses poking slightly past the bar’s surface.
The bar also holds one less camera than the S26 Ultra. The rumor attached to the openings is a 200MP main camera and a pair of 50MP sensors for the ultrawide and 5x telephoto, with the 10MP 3x telephoto dropped from the current phone’s set of four. The count and the layout come straight from the leaked CAD. The sensors stay a rumor until Samsung talks.
Next to the iPhone 18 Pro, the dummy’s bar is much broader, and the comparison uses the smaller Pro, not the Pro Max, so the size gap is real. The iPhone keeps its cameras in a raised plateau while Samsung’s version stretches the idea across the whole top of the phone, and I’d still take a flat back over either one.
Google’s Pixel 11 Pro runs the same horizontal bar idea and finishes it better. Its lenses sit flush inside a thicker bar, and the phone rests flat on a table. The dummy sits steady at first, then wobbles when the lower-right corner is tapped, and the S26 Ultra wobbles on its camera bump as well. The dummy’s weight is not final, so read the wobble as an early signal, not a verdict on the shipping phone.
Price: Google Pixel 11 Pro, Obsidian, 256GB, unlocked, $799
Where to buy: Amazon
The rest of the shell is familiar. The S Pen keeps its slot on the bottom edge, ahead of the speaker, the USB-C port and the SIM tray, and the right side runs power below volume, the opposite order from the Pixel. The dummy’s corners are less rounded than both rivals in the photos, which gives the whole phone a squarer stance.
Does the new shape confirm built-in magnets?
No. The S26 Ultra has no built-in magnets, so magnetic accessories only work through a Qi2 case, and its tall camera bump keeps battery packs from seating flat against the back, which leaves them running warm and charging slowly. That history is the whole reason this redesign gets read as a magnet story.
Moving the cameras into a high bar clears the middle of the back, and a clear run of panel is what a magnetic battery pack needs to seat properly. The hands-on behind this leak leans yes on built-in magnets and calls that a guess, and the dummy cannot settle it either way, because an empty shell has no battery, no coil and no magnet ring inside it.
Both rivals already ship the magnets built in: MagSafe on the iPhone, Pixelsnap on the Pixel. Samsung is the holdout at this table. It has confirmed nothing about the S27 Ultra, and the design could still shift before the winter Unpacked, which the leak puts in January or February 2027.
Price: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, black, 256GB, US unlocked, $1,142.79
Where to buy: Amazon
I’d keep a working phone. A rearranged camera bar is not a reason to retire a flagship that still does everything, and the magnet answer will shape this phone more than the bar does. If the case makers’ numbers hold, the shape is close to set. What Samsung puts inside it is the only surprise left.
