Samsung Galaxy S27 release date expectations, price estimates, and upgrades
The Galaxy S26 for illustrative purposes. | Image by PhoneArena
Galaxy S27: what to expect
What's expected to change vs Galaxy S26:
- Vastly improved Exynos 2700 chip
- Potential Exynos/Snapdragon split once again
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chip or Exynos 2700
- Design should remain familiar to predecessors
- Potentially, the camera may get upgraded
- Samsung may also upgrade the battery sizes
- The Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus may come in February 2027 alongside the Galaxy S27 Ultra.
- A "Pro" variant may be accompanying them.
Expected price:
- The potential price has not leaked yet.
- Prices may remain consistent with the S26 and S26 Plus' prices, which got a price hike this year.
Jump to:
Galaxy S27 release date
The Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus are expected to be announced early next year, alognside the Galaxy S27 Ultra and potentially a Galaxy S27 Pro (which may almost be like an Ultra but minus an S Pen).
| Device family | Announcement | Market release |
|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S27 series | January or February 2027* | February-March 2027* |
| Galaxy S26 series | February 25, 2026 | March 11, 2026 |
| Galaxy S25 series | January 22, 2025 | February 7, 2025 |
* - probable dates
The phones are likely to be unveiled during a dedicated Unpacked event, potentially on a Wednesday, as per tradition.
After the unveiling, you can expect a pre-order period before the devices hit the shelves officially.
This year, the Galaxy S26 lineup was unveiled on February 25, and the phones became available for purchase in stores on March 11.
For February 2027, Wednesdays are the 17th and the 24th. Of course, the South Korean giant may decide to prefer an unveiling in the beginning of the month or even in January, like in previous years. The Galaxy S26 was somewhat delayed in comparison to previous Galaxy S series, so do keep that in mind.
Galaxy S27 price and deals
Leaks have not indicated the Galaxy S27's potential price just yet. The S26 series brought a price hike this year, and it would make sense if Samsung decided to spare its fans from another price hike next year.
| Galaxy model | 128GB of storage | 256GB of storage | 512GB of storage | 1TB of storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S27 | - | $899.99* | $1099.99* | - |
| Galaxy S27 Plus | - | $1,099.99* | $1,299.99* | - |
| Galaxy S26 | - | $899.99 | $1099.99 | - |
| Galaxy S26 Plus | - | $1,099.99 | $1,299.99 | - |
| Galaxy S25 | $799 | $859 | - | - |
| Galaxy S25 Plus | - | $999 | $1,119 |
*- anticipated prices
Of course, the economic situation or component prices may still be rising, but it's a bit early to predict how the situation will unfold.
Galaxy S27 deals to expect:
- Samsung: You can safely expect good offers from Samsung, as usual. The company often gives buyers enhanced trade-in deals as well as pre-order bonuses with its flagship phones.
- Verizon:You can expect great trade-in deals and offers with a new line for the Galaxy S27 series from Verizon.
- AT&T: AT&T is also likely to offer buyers the ability to get a new Galaxy S27 or Plus phone with a huge discount if they have an eligible trade-in or add a line on an eligible plan.
- T-Mobile:T-Mobile is also most likely going to offer huge discounts with either trade-in or specific plans for Samsung's 2027 flagships.
Galaxy S27 camera
Leaks are silent about any camera upgrade for the Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus. Curiously, some early rumors indicate that Samsung is looking to upgrade three cameras on the Galaxy S27 Ultra. Of course, that doesn't automatically mean the upgrade is trickling down to the two smaller siblings from the lineup.
For now, the safest bet is to assume that the hardware isn't getting changed next year.
Galaxy S27 expected camera setup:
- 50 MP main
- 12 MP ultra-wide
- 10 MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom
- 12 MP selfie
Galaxy S27 Plus expected camera setup:
- 50 MP main
- 12 MP ultra-wide
- 10 MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom
- 12 MP selfie
It's true, though, that the Galaxy S series is due for an upgrade in the camera department. The potential upgrades for the S27 Ultra are exciting, so hopefully Samsung has an upgrade prepped for the S27 and Plus as well.
This year, we didn't get upgrades in this department. Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus come with the same cameras as their predecessors. So it's definitely time to shake things up.
Apart from a potential camera upgrade, you can expect a bunch of AI features for the camera to be present, as well as ones from the S26 (such as the new Photo Assist and Creative Studio versions).
Photo Assist allows you to edit, enhance, and basically do whatever you want with an image using text-based prompts straight in the Gallery app.
On the other hand, Creative Studio is an AI app on the S26 that acts as a hub where you can do all sorts of image-related things with the help of Galaxy AI. You can create, edit, and stylize images, wallpapers, and stickers from there. It will likely be present on the Galaxy S27 and Galaxy S27 Plus as well.
Galaxy S27 storage
The South Korean giant is no longer offering a 128 GB storage variant, even to its base flagship. This is likely not changing next year.
Galaxy S27 expected storage capacity:
- 512 GB
- 256 GB
Galaxy S27 Plus expected storage capacity:
- 512 GB
- 256 GB
Galaxy S27 design
The Galaxy S27 and S26 Plus design has not leaked yet. Overall, big design changes for the Galaxy S models are not expected at the moment.
Galaxy S26, for reference. | Image by PhoneArena
The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus did bring some refinement to their looks. They now include a camera island and a changed corner radius for a more cohesive look across the lineup. The South Korean giant may keep this design next year as well.
The Galaxy S26 Plus, for reference. | Image by PhoneArena
We'll likely get the traditional glass sandwich approach and an IP68 rating for water and dust protection. New colors are also likely to come with the S27 and Plus. The Galaxy S26 color palette was rather simple this year, while Samsung has usually brought exciting colors to flagship lineups.
Something that was rumored for the S26 (but unfortunately didn't come to fruition) was real Qi2 charging support. The tech would've enabled magnetic accessories, similar to Apple's MagSafe and Google's Pixelsnap. Potentially, the upgrade may come in 2027 with the Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus.
That would allow for even faster wireless charging and magnetic accessories like power banks, car mounts, and all sorts of fun and useful things on the S27.
Galaxy S27 display
| Phone | Screen size | Brightness |
|---|---|---|
| Galaxy S27 | 6.3"* | 2,600* |
| Galaxy S27 Plus | 6.9"* | 2,600* |
* - anticipated sizes
Galaxy S phones are known to always feature exceptional displays. Likely, this isn't changing with the S27. We've got a small upgrade with the S26's display size (growing from 6.2 to 6.3 inches), but that was just about the only upgrade its display got this year.
The Galaxy S27 is expected to sport the same display size, 6.3 inches. Expect a gorgeous and bright AMOLED display, as usual.
The Galaxy S27 Plus' display, on the other hand, is expected to keep its 6.9-inch size, just like its predecessor and the Plus models before it.
One thing that's curious to see is whether Samsung will bring the Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display feature to the base Galaxy S27 and the S27 Plus next year. That feature is currently exclusive only to the Ultra from the S26 lineup, but it could be an upgrade for next year's models.
The S26 Ultra's Privacy Display allows for the display itself to hide its contents from people standing next to you, peeking at your screen. It's configurable to hide only the notifications or the entire screen, and you can also set rules to activate it for specific apps (like banking ones, for example). Rumors are yet to say if the S27 and Plus are getting the feature, though.
Galaxy S27 battery
Potentially, the Galaxy S series would definitely benefit from a battery size upgrade. It's been a couple of years that we've had phones like OnePlus models with huge silicon-carbon batteries. Samsung is not on board just yet, and it didn't hop in with the S26 series.
However, that doesn't mean the Galaxy S26 battery life is bad – actually, the Galaxy S26 offers good battery life. But one can't help but wonder why Samsung isn't bringing a big upgrade here, to be on par with what the competition is offering.
The Galaxy S26 did get a 300 mAh upgrade, and that's about it. The phones also didn't come with the expected Qi2 charging, which could also have been a noteworthy update.
Well, let's hope Samsung steps it up with the S27 and S27 Plus. So far, we've not had any leaks giving us info on the battery sizes of the two phones, though, so we'll have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, we have competitors like the OnePlus 16, rumored to sport huge batteries in the realm of 9,000 mAh. Also, it's been reported that Samsung is testing (finally) silicon-carbon tech for the S27 Ultra, but that doesn't necessarily mean the smaller siblings would get it. Hopefully they will, but we'll have to wait and see to know for certain.
Galaxy S27 features and software
The Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus should come with One UI 9.5 based on Android 17. We don't know what new OS featureset we'll see just yet. Of course, as the current trend is still on AI, you can safely expect refinements to Galaxy AI and existing features (like Now Bar, Now Brief, and Bixby), as well as some new ones.
With the Galaxy S26 and One UI 8.5, Bixby got upgraded with natural language support and real-time web search abilities. You can now also pick another assistant, like Gemini and Perplexity.
Meanwhile, Now Brief got upgraded with a deeper integration with the personal data engine for more relevant highlights, and the Now Bar got adaptive recommendations.
We expect all these refined features to come to the Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus as well, along with some new ones.
Android 17 is expected to be officially released in the summer of this year.
The new OS focuses on efficiency and refinement, but it will also bring things like widespread blur effects, separated Quick Settings, and a new Apple Handoff-like feature that would let you continue your work on another device. I find myself especially excited for the Handoff-like feature, as it's hands-down one of my favorite iOS features to date.
Galaxy S27 hardware and specs
Galaxy S27 expected specs:
- CPU: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 or Exynos 2700
- RAM: 12 GB, potentially 16 GB
- Battery: 4,300 mAh
- Charging: 25 W wired, 15 W wireless
- Storage: (all options)
- Camera setup: 50 MP main, 12 MP ultra-wide, 10 MP 3x telephoto, 12 MP selfie
Galaxy S27 Plus expected specs:
- CPU: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 or Exynos 2700
- RAM: 12 GB, potentially 16 GB
- Battery: 4,900 mAh on Plus
- Charging: 45 W wired, 20 W wireless
- Storage: 256 GB, 512 GB, potentially 1 TB
- Camera setup: 50 MP main, 12 MP ultra-wide, 10 MP 3x telephoto, 12 MP selfie
As for the processor, we may see a regional split once again. Depending on the region, the Galaxy S27 and Plus may either come with the Exynos 2700 or the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.
A rumor from January is giving us some hope for the Exynos 2700, which would reportedly be significantly improved. It would be manufactured on a 2nd generation 2nm process, which is said to achieve a 12% performance improvement and 25% power reduction, according to leaks.
And now, early benchmarks of the Exynos 2700 have leaked. That's the first time the CPU leaks in Geekbench. The processor managed 2,603 points in the single-core test and 10,350 points in the multi-core test. That's not the best result out there, but it indicates that Samsung is moving forward with the development of the new chip.
The results come from a prototype device running Android 16 and equipped with 12 GB of RAM. The specs of the Exynos 2700 chip are indicated as follows:
- 1 prime core clocked at 2.78 GHz
- 4 performance cores clocked at 2.88 GHz
- 1 low-power core clocked at 2.30 GHz
- 4 efficiency cores clocked at 2.40 GHz
- Xclipse 970 GPU
It's important to keep in mind that this is an early test and the Exynos 2700 is likely to perform even better as Samsung is still working on it. The clock speeds are also likely to improve with development.
As for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, recently reputable tipster Digital Chat Station claimed the chip is coming in two options this time around. There may be a Pro-branded version of the chip for the S27 Ultra, while the S27 and S27 Plus may come with the non-Pro one (in the regions they would be available with Qualcomm's chip).
Reportedly, the non-Pro Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 would have "reduced cache and peripheral specifications" as per DCS's post. The chip is said to be designed for upper mid-range phones.
Should I wait for the Galaxy S27?
- You should wait for the Galaxy S27 if you're not due for an upgrade just yet. If you have the Galaxy S25, you may want to wait for the S27, as the S26 isn't bringing that many upgrades this time around. Hopefully, Samsung will have something in store for you next year.
- You should not wait for the Galaxy S27 if you need to buy a phone right now or soon. After all, the Galaxy S27 is going to come out in 2027, and if you're in dire need of an upgrade, there's no reason for you to wait for that long.
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