Galaxy S26 release date: what to expect from Samsung's next flagship trio?

 


As usual, PhoneArena will cover the event in real time, starting at 10 AM PT or 1 PM EST. We'll tell you all about Samsung's newest flagships. These are the phones you can expect to be announced less than two weeks away:

• Galaxy S26 Ultra
• Galaxy S26 Plus
• Galaxy S26

Of course, Samsung will pay a great deal of attention to Galaxy AI and the various software tricks the new phones will tempt potential buyers with.

To further tempt you, Samsung offers you some incentives for early birds. Like a $30 reservation credit (for signing up to pre-order) or a chance to win a $5,000 gift card valid for Samsung's online store. This one doesn't even require a purchase, but a mere sign-up.

Trade-in values are expected to save you up to $900. If, however, you don't want to trade in your current Galaxy device, you could get a $150 credit for accessories (Galaxy Ring, Galaxy smartwatches, tablets).

Reserve your Galaxy S26 at the official store

Samsung has launched its much-awaited Galaxy S26 reservations. Pre-securing a unit straight away gives you a $30 Samsung credit, a chance to win a $5,000 sweepstake, and pre-order savings of up to $900.

Reserve at Samsung

Some rumors claimed that Samsung might ship the Galaxy S26 Ultra with a 60W charging adapter in the box, but that's not confirmed, so take that with a grain of salt.

Specs to look forward to

It looks like heavy hardware upgrades are not on the menu for this year's Galaxy S26 family: many components will be inherited from the Galaxy S25 lineup.

Samsung is instead emphasizing the Galaxy AI experience for its new models.



Credible rumors and leaks point at a 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (2340 x 1080 pixel resolution) with the obligatory 120Hz refresh rate on the "vanilla" Galaxy S26. The phone could ship with either the Exynos 2600 or the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, depending on the market. As a rule of thumb, the USA gets the Snapdragon treatment, while those in Europe are stuck with the Exynos silicon. 12 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of storage are expected. The camera setup could include a 50 MP main camera, a 10 MP telephoto camera, a 12 MP ultra-wide and a 12 MP selfie snapper. The battery cell could have a 4,300 mAh capacity (25W charging speeds). Overall weight: 167 grams.



The Galaxy S26 Plus could offer a 6.7-inch display, the same chipset options, the same RAM and storage options and the same camera setup as on the Galaxy S26. The battery is said to have 4,900 mAh of capacity with 45W charging speeds. Overall weight: 190 grams.



The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the most potent out of the three, as usual. Power users can expect the high-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a massive and bright 6.9-inch display (3120 x 1440 pixel resolution) and a novel screen privacy feature. This technology could make it so that only you can see sensitive data on your phone, not people standing beside you.

RAM could go up to 16 GB and storage – up to 1 TB. The camera setup might include a 200 MP main camera sensor, a 50 MP periscope telephoto, a 10 MP secondary dedicated telephoto, a 50 MP ultra-wide and a 12 MP selfie camera.

Sadly, the battery might stay at 5,000 mAh (the same as what numerous previous Galaxy S Ultra phones offer), but it could support 60W charging speeds. The Galaxy S26 Ultra will be a massive phone and could weigh 214 grams.