After weathering a barrage of leaks, RAM shortages, and an abandoned overhaul, Samsung is finally ready to unveil the Galaxy S26 series. As we expected, this is a boring upgrade even by Samsung’s own standards, and combined with higher prices on two of the S26 models, some fans might be left waiting for something a little more exciting down the road.
Still, as always, there’s plenty to like here, and it really starts with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung has leaned more into the rounded corners usually seen on its other two flagships, and combined with a sub-8mm chassis, it should deliver a more comfortable experience in the hand, even with that massive 6.9-inch display. Aside from a newly-implemented unified camera bump, though, we’re largely looking at pretty minor visual changes compared to last year.
That’s even more true of the Galaxy S26 and S26+, which look virtually identical save for that refreshed camera module. There’s a universe out there where the Ultra’s the boring one, with a revitalized Galaxy S26 “Pro” and a follow-up to last year’s Galaxy S25 Edge replacing the Plus model.
That’s not the universe we live in, though, and as a result, both of these devices aren’t much more than a spec bump. All three devices sport Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (with Samsung’s “for Galaxy” branding and tweaks to boot), with the Ultra also sporting an all-new Vapor Chamber.
The list of Galaxy S26 Ultra-exclusive features continues, unfortunately, with the most promising feature of this launch: Privacy Display. This isn’t some film-based screen protector that reduces viewing angles along the entire display; rather, Privacy Display actually detects spaces within the software that could be sensitive, like incoming notifications, and obscures them from off-angle viewers. It’s fully customizable within applications and features two different visibility settings, and based on our early impressions, seems really promising. It’s just a shame it’s limited to just the Ultra this time around.
While we’re focused on the Ultra, a quick note (pun only sort of intended) on the S Pen: it only comes in black and white now, with just the very tip color-coded to match your phone. And no, Bluetooth isn’t back this year.
As for other hardware changes, the regular Galaxy S26 gets a slightly larger 4,300mAh battery, while the Ultra gets Super-Fast Charging 3.0 capable of up to 60W speeds — finally, a real charging speed upgrade from Samsung. The Plus and Ultra both get upgrades to their wireless charging speeds thanks to Qi2, with 20W and 25W ratings respectively, but you won’t find built-in magnets in any of these devices. If you’re looking for magnetic accessories without having to rely on a case, Google is still your only mainstream Android option.
Camera upgrades are, like everything else this generation, few and far between. Samsung’s kept its megapixel counts identical on every lens across all three phones, suggesting reused sensors, though it does claim wider apertures on the Ultra alongside improved “Nightography Video” and stabilization when recording. Practically every other camera change, however, spawns from AI, including improvements to the ISP for capturing skin tones with more accuracy and a full “Creative Studio” that builds on Photo Assist to turn all of your images into a genAI-powered hellscape (similar to Pixel Studio).
AI is, for the third generation in a row, really what Samsung is leaning on for its pitch across all three phones, this time with One UI 8.5 focusing on “simplifying” your life. Now Nudge — yes, it’s called Now Nudge — is essentially a repeat of what Google attempted last fall with Magic Cue, designed to surface information through “timely suggestions” as One UI seems fit. The one example given in today’s press release focuses entirely on photo suggestions when a friend asks to see images from a recent vacation, which, while handy, does suggest that’s as impressive as it gets. We’ll have to play around with it more ahead of our reviews to get a feel for it.
Samsung also says it’s improved Now Brief to be more personalized to users, while Circle to Search now supports “multi-object recognition.” Bixby has also been reborn, as the company announced ahead of time, and users can now select between Bixby, Gemini, or Perplexity as their default assistant within settings.
Exciting, right? Samsung certainly hopes you think so. All three phones are now available for pre-order at Samsung’s web store, Amazon, Best Buy, and your carrier of choice ahead of a March 11th release date. All three models now share the same group of colors, including Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, White, and Black, with Pink Gold and Silver Shadow kept as Samsung.com exclusives. If you’ve been hoping for something as bold and brash as Google’s Berry Pixel 10a, you won’t find it this year.
As for pricing, the Galaxy S26 Ultra retains its starting price of $1,299.99 for the 256GB model, but the other two phones aren’t so lucky. The Galaxy S26 starts at $899.99 for the 256GB model, while the S26+ now starts at $1,099.99. All three models include a 512GB storage upgrade, while Ultra shoppers can select a 1TB model. Samsung is promising up to $900 in instant trade-in credit when you shop online, or $150 in automatic store credit towards other devices if you aren’t trading in, like Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.
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