Samsung Galaxy S26: Release Date, Price & Specs

Barely later than traditional, Samsung has unveiled its newest sequence of flagship Galaxy telephones for the 12 months, bringing with them a handful of adjustments that, if we’re being trustworthy, weren’t a lot of a shock. Nonetheless, the Galaxy S26 vary is official and we are able to convey you all the ultimate particulars on this final information.

Though they had been hardly essentially the most modern telephones in comparison with their quick predecessors, the Galaxy S25, the S25+ and the S25 Extremely had been all nice telephones in their very own proper, and with Samsung’s promise of seven years of software program updates, to not point out the varied enhancements to OneUI that we’ve seen as of late, the handsets offered fairly a compelling case to new adopters.

As a consequence of preliminary rumours concerning the S26 being changed by an all-new ‘S26 Professional’, and the Plus mannequin getting dumped completely for the now canned S26 Edge, we had hoped that this era of Samsung flagships would convey a ton of change together with it, and though that clearly hasn’t come to fruition with a extra ‘enterprise as traditional’ method, there are nonetheless some upgrades which can be effectively price figuring out about.

In spite of everything, when you’re upgrading from a a lot older system, just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 or under, then you definitely may be tempted to select up considered one of these newer telephones, or see if it can save you some money by choosing the Galaxy S25 vary because it’ll now be obtainable for a lot much less. With that in thoughts, we’ve put collectively this information to focus on the important thing adjustments within the S26 vary, how a lot these telephones value and when you may count on to purchase them.

Luke Baker

Samsung Galaxy S26: What’s new?

Samsung’s all-new Privateness Show

Right here’s a characteristic that drummed up a lot curiosity through leaks and rumours that Samsung just about confirmed its existence lengthy earlier than the Galaxy S26 telephones had been unveiled. The corporate has developed an ingenious little bit of show tech which may block out segments of the display to those that may be viewing it from a side-on perspective.

The thought behind Privateness Show is that it may be used to cease individuals round you from seeing delicate data, whether or not that be a notification a few cost that’s simply been despatched to your account, otherwise you’re merely studying a saucy novel. What’s spectacular is that the characteristic might be customised to dam out sure sections of the show while leaving the remainder of it as is.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Given simply how a lot we depend on our smartphones for our funds, it is a large win for on the go safety and we received’t be too shocked if different producers begin to implement their very own model of the characteristic within the close to future, however there’s one huge caveat with Samsung’s implementation that must be understood: it’s solely obtainable on the Galaxy S26 Extremely.

This sadly signifies that you received’t be getting the identical degree of show safety with the usual Galaxy S26 or the S26+, which is a bummer for many who don’t have the finances to cowl the S26 Extremely’s pretty lofty price ticket.

Learn our Galaxy S26 Extremely hands-on

Sporadic adjustments to battery life and charging

Though Samsung’s flagship telephones sometimes have smaller batteries than a lot of the competitors, they’re capable of depend on extremely optimised software program to go additional than you’d count on throughout on a regular basis use, making them nice choices for most individuals.

Nevertheless, we had been hoping that Samsung may look to speculate extra in battery tech given the leaps we’ve seen just lately from the OnePlus 15 and the Oppo Discover X9 Professional. There are some adjustments this time round, however it appears as if Samsung solely received half of the memo.

Luke Baker

Of all of the telephones popping out, solely the entry-level S26 has seen any form of change to battery capability, leaping from 4000mAh to 4300mAh. Though that’s hardly a significant leap, due to Samsung’s potential to make its batteries go the gap, it ought to supply extra flexibility to those that wish to get pleasure from a spot of cell gaming when the temper strikes.

By way of charging speeds, there are some upgrades however principally for the Galaxy S26 Extremely. As an alternative of capping out at 45W, customers can now high up the telephone at 60W over a wired connection which ought to imply much less time spent ready round for a full cost. Wi-fi additionally jumps from 15- to 25W, which additionally applies to the S26+.

What’s arguably most stunning right here is the shortage of magnetic Qi2 wi-fi charging. It’s a obvious omission, because it’s available on the Pixel 10 vary and the iPhone vary for years, referred to as MagSafe.

Barely higher cameras for only one telephone

With regards to digicam tech, the upgrades listed here are much more sparse than on the battery entrance. A bit like with the brand new safe show characteristic, it’s solely the S26 Extremely that sees any kind of consideration right here.

Megapixel counts are utterly unchanged because the S25 Extremely has nearly the very same quad-camera set-up as its predecessor, however what has modified are the aperture counts on the 200Mp wide-angle lens and the 50Mp telephoto sensor, shifting to f/1.4 and f/2.9, respectively.

Luke Baker

What this modification ought to quantity to is best low-light efficiency when utilizing both of these lenses, so when you’re the kind of one who likes to doc an evening out then this may very well be proper up your road.

Quicker chipsets and a return to Exynos

This shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody on condition that it’s the one change that may at all times be counted on with every new era of Samsung telephones, however there’s a brand new array of chipsets on the town that ought to pave the best way for extra environment friendly efficiency.

What’s barely stunning is that Samsung has moved again to utilizing its in-house Exynos CPUs on some telephones after having Snapdragon chips on each S25 handset all over the world.

This time across the Galaxy S26 and the S26+ can have the brand new Exynos 2600 chipset in sure areas just like the UK, while the S26 Extremely can have the marginally tweaked Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy CPU.

Luke Baker

Though this may be trigger for concern to some concerning the ability of the S26 and S26+, every part we’ve heard to date factors in direction of a significant breakthrough in efficiency for Exynos that ought to assist to shut the hole.

After all, we received’t know precisely how highly effective the chipset is till we get the telephones in for testing, however the truth that it’s been constructed on a much more environment friendly 2nm course of speaks volumes over what we are able to count on.

An ever-so slight design tweak

Right here’s one thing that you just may miss in case your eyes solely look over the brand new S26 telephones – there’s a minor change within the design that can assist you determine these telephones from the pack.

Except for the brand new colourways which can be obtainable, like Cobalt Violet, every of those units now has a raised digicam bar on the again, not too dissimilar to the digicam plateau that Apple has made use of on the iPhone 17 Professional and the iPhone Air.

Luke Baker

Goodbye 128GB

One other space the place Samsung has sought to reflect Apple’s technique – the model has now utterly moved away from providing 128GB fashions for any of its mainline telephones with the S26 now obtainable with a beginning configuration of 256GB.

There’s a trade-off with that as you’ll uncover additional down in our pricing part, however it’s attention-grabbing to see the trade at giant recognising that in 2026, 128GB simply isn’t sufficient for storing apps, movies and extra.

OneUI 8.5 is right here in earnest

Whereas a number of beta testers have been capable of entry an ‘in progress’ model of Samsung’s new Android overlay, OneUI 8.5 makes its full debut, proper out of the field on the Galaxy S26 vary.

OneUI 8.5 already stands on the excellent aesthetic adjustments led to with OneUI 7 however this time round there are a number of useful options to enhance on a regular basis usability. For instance, Bixby is getting an enormous AI-infused replace that permits it to extra seamlessly reply to typical conversations, and it may possibly even be used to tweak the settings of the brand new telephones through voice instructions.

Elsewhere, you may have it set in order that calls go straight to voicemail over a sure time frame, so if it’s good to lock in and be productive, you received’t have to fret about being distracted by incoming calls.

Right here is the total desk of specs for the S26 vary:

When is the Samsung Galaxy S26 launch date?

Anybody hoping to improve to the brand new Samsung telephones received’t have to attend lengthy now that we now have official affirmation on dates following the Samsung Unpacked occasion.

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S26 vary at the moment are being taken earlier than the telephones are launched in full on 11 March.

This March launch date just about corresponds to all that we heard within the run-up to this occasion, and it additionally marks a barely later date than traditional as the previous few Galaxy refreshes have come to market in both January or February.

Luke Baker

How a lot does the Samsung Galaxy S26 value?

Provided that Samsung has principally caught to its weapons when it comes to pricing over the past couple of years, we had hoped that the model may look to soak up any uptick in manufacturing value amidst a reasonably turbulent time for the worldwide economic system, however that’s not the case.

For the primary time shortly, the mainline Samsung Galaxy telephones are getting a value enhance.

On the entry degree, the usual Galaxy S26 will now set you again £879 and upwards. That is for 256GB of storage, as there’s not a 128GB mannequin, however it’s nonetheless £20 greater than the identical S25 mannequin.

The S26+ and the S26 Extremely now begin on the greater prices of £1,099 and £1,279 respectively, so that you’ll be paying extra regardless of which mannequin you get.

To assist mitigate the brand new costs, Samsung is providing its traditional pre-order deal, the place you will get double the storage at no additional value, and there are trade-in presents obtainable alongside it for a restricted time.

Samsung Galaxy S26 costs

• 256GB – £879/$879.99
• 512GB – £1,049/$TBC

Samsung Galaxy S26+ costs

• 256GB – £1,099/$1,099.99
• 512GB -£1,269/$TBC

Samsung Galaxy S26 Extremely costs

• 256GB – £1,279/$1,299.99
• 512GB – £1,449/$TBC
• 1TB – £1,699/$TBC

Luke Baker