The conversation around Samsung’s latest flagship series might center around how similar they are to their respective predecessors — a complaint that has echoed through the last few generations, if we’re being honest — but that doesn’t mean your future Galaxy S26 device doesn’t have a few secret upgrades hidden up its sleeve.
As spotted by SamMobile, the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra all include a new NFC antenna built into the top of the phone. This change doesn’t replace the typical NFC antenna Samsung usually builds into the back of its devices; rather, both antennas are working in tandem to improve the range in which a tap-to-pay — or any other NFC-based transaction, for that matter — can activate.
The result should mean less time waving your phone in front of a terminal as you wait for your payment to trigger, which, and I’m speaking from personal experience, is the most awkward thing a cashier can watch you try and attempt. It should also allow for quicker and more accurate transfers between devices, especially if you’re trading S26 to S26.
Obviously, this is a pretty small change in and of itself, but it is an example of Samsung still managing to find little ways to improve its hardware every generation, something it’s always been fairly good at. Whether that’s enough to push people to upgrade is another story, but with a week left to go on Galaxy S26 pre-order deals, it’s at least one extra feature that wasn’t around on the S25.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is now available to pre-order at Samsung.com, with up to $900 in trade-in value or $150 in store credit for additional devices if you forego a trade-in altogether.
More on Samsung:
- Samsung confirms Galaxy S26 series has an 8-bit display following 10-bit confusion
- Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra shipped early for at least one person
- Early Galaxy S27 Ultra rumor says Samsung might finally upgrade its main 200MP sensor
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