The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus exist for one reason: to make the Ultra look worth it
Samsung is quietly quitting its own flagship phones and hoping you won't notice.
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
Disappointment in a box. | Image by PhoneArena
Ever heard of "quiet quitting"?
This happens when employees stop caring about their day-to-day jobs and mentally check out without officially resigning. It's like working on autopilot with the bare minimum of enthusiasm, putting the least amount of effort into anything you are asked to or have to do daily.
This happens when employees stop caring about their day-to-day jobs and mentally check out without officially resigning. It's like working on autopilot with the bare minimum of enthusiasm, putting the least amount of effort into anything you are asked to or have to do daily.
Quiet quitting by Samsung—that's precisely what the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus feel like to me.
No enthusiasm, no clearly defined goal for their existence, no effort to appeal to the average customer, no semblance of evolutionary improvements, and finally, no hiding away the fact that Samsung has been more or less releasing the same phones since the Galaxy S22.
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S25 | Galaxy S24 | Galaxy S23 | Galaxy S22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.3" FHD+ 120Hz | 6.2" FHD+ 120Hz | 6.2" FHD+ 120Hz | 6.1" FHD+ 120Hz | 6.1" FHD+ |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 / Exynos 2600 | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 / Exynos 2400 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 |
| 12GB RAM | 12GB RAM | 8GB RAM | 8GB RAM | 8GB RAM |
| 50MP main + 12MP UW + 10 MP 3X | 50MP main + 12MP UW + 10 MP 3X | 50MP main + 12MP UW + 10 MP 3X | 50MP main + 12MP UW + 10 MP 3X | 50MP main + 12MP UW + 10MP 3X |
| 4,300 mAh | 4,000 mAh | 4,000 mAh | 3,900 mAh | 3,700 mAh |
| 25W wired charging | 25W wired chargin | 25W wired charging | 25W wired charging | 25W wired charging |
That's walking the thin line between consistency and not trying hard enough, and Samsung has been leaning over the chasm of the latter for a long, long time now.
Samsung is "quiet quitting" its standard flagship phones
I get it: phone reviewers, the wider mobile tech blogosphere, and most regular users alike are all fixated on the venerable Galaxy S26 Ultra. And rightly so: although it isn't that much different from last year's model, it has a plethora of new features that make it interesting and probably the most sought-after Android phone right now.
It is a large phone with a host of excellent features, and although it's quite pricey, at least you get the feeling that you will be getting your money's worth out of that one. And the rumored exceptionally high sales and pre-orders of the Ultra totally corroborate that: people want the Ultra, because it's the only one worth owning.
I can't say any of that for either the Galaxy S26 or the Galaxy S26 Plus. Both phones are just filler that exists because it would have been weird for Samsung to release just a single phone, although it's the only one that actually matters. The Galaxy S26, for example, still charges at a measly 25 W after all those years, whereas the Ultra just hit peak charging speeds of 60 W. That’s sensible evolution for the Ultra and laggard backwardness for the regular Galaxy S26.
That's totally a problem of Samsung's own making, a fatal death spiral: consumers flock to the Galaxy S Ultra because Samsung fails to make the regular flagships even remotely exciting, and Samsung doesn't bother to do that because consumers are increasingly drawn to the Ultra.
The issue stems from the non-existent feature parity between the Ultra and these regular flagships, which is now wider than ever. Features that should have trickled down to the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S Plus, like a non-reflective coating, improved cameras, and more drastic design improvements, are nowhere to be seen.
That's a major issue, as it actively hurts the overall value proposition. Even Apple stopped gatekeeping the best features of its Pro models as Cupertino realized pro features need to trickle down eventually.
The result? The iPhone 17 is a smash-hit success that rivals the Pro and Pro Max models in popularity, and I'm certain it will find its place in the top 10 best-selling smartphones of 2026. It has scored the same 48 MP main camera as the iPhone Pro and the iPhone Pro Max, got ProMotion, a faster chip, and double the storage in comparison with the previous model.
Vote with your wallet, or Samsung wouldn't learn
If you just want a reliable Samsung phone that just works and don't really care about the indistinguishable specs sheets and bad value proposition, then either the Galaxy S26 or Galaxy S26 Plus will serve you well.
On the other hand, if you are not considering the Galaxy S26 Ultra for budget reasons, then skip the Galaxy S26 and the Plus. Samsung's mid-range devices are much better value, and actually, a mid-range Galaxy A-series phone shouldn't be too far behind the Galaxy S26 Plus or the S26 in terms of features.
Sure, you will lose some Galaxy AI features (though that could be a benefit of its own for many people, myself included) and get less impressive performance, but the complete experience should be fairly comparable at a much lower price.
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