Galaxy S26: 8 essential changes you need to know before the February 25 launch
Here are the major changes expected for the Galaxy S26 series.
The Galaxy S26 trio is reportedly coming on February 25. With less than a month to go, leakers have disclosed many aspects of Samsung's upcoming flagship series. Some earlier rumors have been dispelled, while others have been corroborated.
With all that's been said so far, it appears Samsung fans are not in for a huge upgrade this time around. Despite that, there are plenty of changes reportedly coming to the trio.
New camera island design
For months we've been hearing (and seeing in leaks) about the design tweak that the South Korean giant has prepped for the Galaxy S26 trio. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is now getting rounder corners, and all three phones are getting a camera island.
The lenses won't be staying separate as they were on the Galaxy S25 phones. Apart from that, though, the design would remain largely unchanged. From leaked dummy units, we can see that Samsung's managed to slim the Ultra down (the same is said for the base S26, which is said to now be 6.9 mm instead of 7.2 mm), so the camera island looks like it protrudes a bit more from the predecessor.
Galaxy S26 gets a battery upgrade; Ultra does not
Many Samsung fans had hoped the Galaxy S26 Ultra was getting a battery size upgrade. However, this seems not to be the case for the Ultra, as most rumors are now unanimous that the phone is sticking with the 5,000 mAh cell from its predecessor.
However, the vanilla Galaxy S26 is reportedly getting a small bump in battery size. Reportedly, the phone is going to rock a 4,300 mAh battery cell, which is 300 mAh more than its predecessor.
Charging upgrade: 60W wired charging
Although the Galaxy S26 Ultra is not getting a bump in battery size this time around, Samsung has reportedly prepped a charging upgrade for the phone. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is said to now support 60W wired charging, which is up from the 45W on the S25 Ultra. Yep, that's nowhere near what some Chinese rivals are doing, but still a step in the right direction.
Rumor has it that the phone is also getting an improvement in wireless charging speeds to 25W. The Galaxy S26 is said to get an upgrade as well, supporting 45W wired charging speeds.
Unfortunately, though, the rumored Qi2 charging support may not happen, as per recent rumors. So, the trio is reportedly not rocking built-in magnets, unlike Apple's MagSafe.
Small updates to cameras
Rumors are claiming we're not going to see huge upgrades in the camera department of the trio. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is said to keep the same 50 MP 5x telephoto and ultra-wide sensors to keep the costs down.
There's the possibility that the S26 Ultra is getting a mechanical variable aperture, which should offer photography enthusiasts more control over the light entering the phone's sensor and the potential for more realistic-looking bokeh. Apparently, the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus may not be getting the feature.
Exynos/Snapdragon split by region
This time, the Galaxy S26 series is going to come with two options for a processor, depending on the region. The Exynos 2600, which is Samsung's own chip and has recently scored pretty reliably on benchmarks, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Depending on where you're purchasing the phone, you would get either the Exynos or Snapdragon-powered chip. For some tasks, Qualcomm's processor is said to still be better than the Exynos, but the gap between the two processors in terms of performance should be minor, if there at all.
Nevertheless, both these chips are flagship-grade components and should ensure a smooth and hiccup-free experience.
Upgraded Galaxy S26 Ultra display
Apparently, the Galaxy S26 Ultra's display is getting the most upgrades this time around. According to rumors, the phone is getting a new privacy display where the panel itself would be able to hide its contents from prying eyes. The solution is based on hardware and software working together, and you would reportedly be able to choose which apps or notifications are hidden.
Meanwhile, the Ultra is also said to get a new Gorilla Glass panel, which should be durable enough to make screen protectors obsolete. On top of it all, the display is likely using a new technology (CoE - Color Filter on Encapsulation), which makes it more power efficient while at the same time reducing reflections of the screen.
As for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus, we've heard rumors about a slight bump in their display sizes. The Galaxy S26 is said to rock a slightly bigger display – 6.3 inches or so-so – from its predecessor. The Galaxy S26 Plus' display may also grow.
Samsung has also reportedly prepped an improved brightness for the Galaxy S26, which should go all the way up to 3,000 nits.
New Galaxy AI features
The trio is most likely going to come with One UI 8.5. There will be an upgraded Bixby assistant coming with the new software, which was already revealed with a One UI 8.5 beta version. You would be able to communicate with it using natural language. Obviously, generative AI would power the assistant, and it would also be able to perform web searches.
Meanwhile, leaks indicate that Samsung is also looking to partner with Nota AI to bring EdgeFusion to the upcoming phones. This is image-generating technology, and this AI model would power Galaxy AI to produce images based on your prompts.
The model is also said to be able to make high-quality images in seconds.
There are likely going to be other AI features and small improvements across the board with One UI 8.5 for the Galaxy S26 series.
Price hike in some regions and February 25 announcement
There have been plenty of talks on the potential pricing of the Galaxy S26 series. We've had leaks indicate that, at least in some European regions, the prices are going up. The U.S. price is yet to leak, and it's quite possible that Samsung may freeze the prices for this market.
Meanwhile, rumors seem unanimous that the phones will be introduced on February 25, 2026. That's less than a month from now. The South Korean giant is likely going to hold an Unpacked event to show its flagship lineup (as it usually does), and the phones would go on sale a couple of weeks after it.
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