Samsung’s Galaxy S26 trio is shaping up to be an interesting launch — it’s just that the phones themselves aren’t actually the interesting part. We already know that a lot of what could’ve made the S26 lineup different from its predecessors has been thrown out the window thanks to failed concepts and stiff competition. Now, Samsung needs to try to tease a lineup that appears unchanged even by this brand’s own standards, and so far, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
Although we don’t have an official date for Galaxy Unpacked just yet — smart money is on February 25th, though — Samsung has begun teasing its upcoming product launch on social media. The company published three YouTube Shorts this week, each teasing improvements to the S26’s camera system. Titled “Groove,” “Glow,” and “Closer,” all three begin with the silhouette of Samsung’s traditionally vertical triple-lens camera system, before advertising improved low-light performance (in the case of “Groove” and “Glow”) or enhanced zoom capabilities (in the case of “Closer”).
Here’s the problem: every rumor we’ve heard about the Galaxy S26’s cameras suggests we won’t be seeing new sensors. A report from last week suggested the Galaxy S26 and S26+ would utilize a 50MP main sensor paired with a 10MP 3x telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide camera. And while megapixel counts can obviously remain the same between entirely different sensors, this is the exact layout that has existed in the company’s non-Ultra devices since 2022’s Galaxy S22. That’s a device plenty of people are going to be looking to upgrade from, despite the Galaxy S26 seemingly offering very little in terms of improvements.
Obviously, Samsung could be doing plenty behind-the-scenes to improve processing, shutter speed, and more. But in my experience, post-processing has never been Galaxy’s strong suit; the Galaxy S24 Ultra, in particular, left me with some messy, blurry images during my review period two years ago. And the improvements demoed in these three videos — low-light performance and extreme digital zoom — are concepts we’ve seen practically every smartphone manufacturer try their hands at over the past ten years, Samsung included. For all of my complaints about Google’s HDR-reliant processing, the Pixel 10 Pro is perfectly capable of capturing in low-light, and Super Res Zoom is pretty incredible.
Even taking these videos at face value, I find the promises being made by Samsung here pretty disappointing. Improved low-light performance at concerts and outdoor parties? Night Sight impressed me in 2017 on my Pixel 2 XL; these days, capturing photos and videos in poorly-lit environments is practically table stakes. Meanwhile, I’m not even sure what to make of “Closer,” since the entire demo is, as its disclaimer makes clear, is a poorly-generated AI video. I’m not just talking about the dog wearing sunglasses — even the opening shot is a blurry mess of fake signs and vehicles.
I’m not going to pretend there isn’t room for us to be surprised come Unpacked. But considering every report about the entire Galaxy S26 trio points towards a fairly boring spec bump — one that apparently doesn’t include Qi2 built into the actual phone — it’s worth taking any and all pre-release teases with a grain of salt.
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