Samsung Galaxy S26: Everything you need to know

With Samsung's new foldables launched in July, everyone—especially those who aren't into foldables— are now looking forward to the company's next Galaxy S flagship. The Galaxy S26 series will arrive in early 2026, assuming Samsung sticks to its usual launch schedule. And next year, it could launch four different models together instead of three.

That fourth model might be the Galaxy S26 Edge, though rumor has it that the Edge variant could replace the Plus model depending on the S25 Edge's market performance. For now, we're assuming Samsung will launch four models, as the S25 Edge isn't doing well according to multiple reports (including our own sources).

Another shake-up could be the replacement of the base model with a Galaxy S26 Pro, which is rumored to feature a slightly larger 6.27-inch display and a 4,300 mAh battery (300 mAh more than the Galaxy S25).

Details on the Galaxy S26's specs are scarce. But one upgrade is guaranteed: new chips under the hood. The Snapdragon 8 Elite's successor will likely power the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the Galaxy S26 Edge globally.

The same Snapdragon chip will likely power the S26 and S26+ in the US, Canada, and China. Everywhere else, we expect Samsung to use an Exynos chip for these models. However, it's unclear whether Samsung will pair the Galaxy S26 with the Exynos 2500—which debuted in July with the Galaxy Z Flip 7—or the Exynos 2600 that it is building on an advanced 2nm node.

Regardless of the chip, Samsung will offer 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage as standard. 512GB and 1TB storage variants should be available as well. The Galaxy S25 Ultra comes in a variant with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage that's exclusive to a handful of markets, and we hope Samsung will make such a variant more accessible with next year's Ultra model.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is also rumored to get a boost with LPDDR5X RAM capable of 10.7Gbps speeds, around 25% faster than the 8.5Gbps modules used in the S25 Ultra.

Samsung put major effort into slimming down its smartphones this year. The Galaxy S26 Edge is thin unlike anything else, and even the Galaxy S25 Ultra and mid-range devices like the Galaxy A56 feature thinner designs than their predecessors. The Fold 7 is also Samsung's thinnest Fold smartphone ever.

According to rumors, Samsung will continue the thinning streak with the Galaxy S26 design. Samsung will achieve this using slimmer camera modules. We already saw this in action on the Galaxy S25 Edge. The S25 Edge features a smaller 200MP camera module than the S25 Ultra without any reduction in quality and capabilities.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra may slim down to under 7mm in thickness, making it noticeably thinner and a few grams lighter than the S25 Ultra. On top of that, it is tipped to feature something called “CoE depolarizer technology” and third-generation Gorilla Glass Armor, the latter of which should cut down screen reflectivity for better outdoor visibility.

The Galaxy S26 Edge could be especially striking: it is rumored to pack a 4,200 mAh battery inside a chassis just 5.5mm thin (down from the 5.8mm profile of the S25 Edge) thanks to higher-density cells even without a switch to silicon-carbon batteries.

However, the overall design is unlikely to change to ensure the Galaxy brand retains its identity. That means a front side dominated by the display, aluminum frames on the base/Plus models and titanium ones on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and S26 Edge, and a glass back with independent camera modules on all but the Edge model.

We would love to see Samsung equipping all models with Gorilla Armor glass for reduced reflectivity instead of just the Ultra. But it's not something we're hopeful about. We also don't expect any changes to screen sizes, at least on the Plus/Edge and Ultra models.

The Galaxy S25 Edge could have avoided battery life criticisms if Samsung had adopted silicon carbon technology over the traditional lithium ion cells that power most smartphones, but it chose not to do so.

However, as noted earlier, Samsung may have increased the battery capacity on the S26 Edge to 4,200 mAh by using higher-density cells.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra, on the other hand, may stick with the same 5,000 mAh battery as previous Galaxy S Ultra models, but it could bring support for 60W/65W charging, letting it hit 80% in just half an hour, a big step up from the 45W limit on previous Ultras. Other models are expected to top out at 45W.

Another rumor suggests Samsung may equip the Galaxy S26 lineup with magnets to properly support the new Qi2 wireless charging standard. This could improve alignment and charging speeds on Qi2 pads, but the trade-off might be the removal of reverse wireless charging, which would prevent S26 phones from wirelessly charging other devices.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra brought a new 5x long-range zoom camera, and with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung introduced a higher-resolution ultrawide camera sporting a 50MP sensor instead of a 12MP sensor.

However, while Samsung did upgrade the 10MP front camera to a 12MP one back in 2023, Samsung has stuck with the same rear camera setup on the base and Plus Galaxy S models for many years. Is that going to finally change with the Galaxy S26 series? Well, it doesn't look like it.

While Samsung is equipping the S26/S26 Pro and the S26+ with a new primary sensor, it will retain the 50MP resolution. And there is no word on whether the ultrawide and zoom cameras will get any upgrade. In fact, a shocking rumor claimed that Samsung will avoid bringing major camera upgrades until the Galaxy S28.

Even if Samsung doesn't wait that long, there's a good chance there will not be any meaningful camera upgrades available on next year's lineup. That is likely to be true for the Galaxy S26 Edge in particular, as Samsung already pushed things to a limit by equipping the S25 Edge with a 200MP main camera.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra, however, is rumored to use Samsung’s ISOCELL HP2 200MP sensor with a larger aperture than the previous 200MP camera, potentially improving low-light photography.

The Galaxy S26 series will launch running Android 16 out of the box, with version 8.5 of its One UI interface. Samsung will no doubt introduce new Galaxy AI features, and one of those could be an alternative to Google Gemini.

Gemini replaced Google Assistant and Bixby as the primary digital assistant on the Galaxy S25 series and other devices that run Android 15 and One UI 7.0, and while it won't be going anywhere, Samsung could introduce Perplexity AI as an alternative.

Samsung is reportedly working on a deal to invest in Perplexity AI, a rival to ChatGPT, and if the deal goes through this year, it could very well make its debut on the Galaxy S26. However, the company may only integrate Perplexity into Bixby and the Samsung Internet browser in the first phase.

Samsung has confirmed that Gemini won’t be the only AI assistant on the Galaxy S26 series, suggesting multiple assistants could coexist, but what options users will have remains to be seen.

Details on other software features is limited, but we're hoping the list of new features will be bigger than it is for One UI 8.0. If not, we will need to wait for Android 17/One UI 9.0, which will be the first of at least seven major OS upgrades for the next Galaxy S flagship.

Pricing is often the last important piece of information to be confirmed, and that is unlikely to change for the Galaxy S26 series. For now, the only thing we can say with some certainty is that the prices will remain the same as the Galaxy S25 lineup.

However, the USA's trade policies—namely Trump's tariff war—could force Samsung's hand into attaching a higher price tag, even if the increase isn't substantial. We'll know more by the end of 2025, so stay tuned.