Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge battery and thickness finally confirmed, is it worth the upgrade?

After multiple reports from various sources, the battery capacity and thickness of next year’s Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge have finally been confirmed. Unfortunately, the battery will not be the major upgrade that prior rumors had indicated, and instead will only be a marginal improvement.

The S26 Edge will come with a battery capacity of 4,200 mAh, which isn’t really that significant compared to the 3,900 mAh you get with the Galaxy S25 Edge. However, it is nice to see that the next Edge phone will break the 4,000 mark, especially considering that it’s even slimmer at 5.5 mm: 0.3 mm less than the S25 Edge.



Previous reports were claiming that the battery capacity could be as large as 4,400 mAh. Now, granted, 4,400 mAh isn’t spectacular, but a 500 mAh increase over its predecessor would have made the S26 Edge a worthy upgrade.

Apple and Samsung are diverging in how they approach their flagship smartphones. Samsung will continue to slim down its phones, and will reuse the 5,000 mAh Li-ion battery in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Apple, meanwhile, has decided to bulk up the iPhone 17 Pro for a bigger battery, and the iPhone 17 Air will be the only model for users who demand a super slim phone.



Both Samsung and Apple are hoping for AI-powered battery management to squeeze extra screen-on time out of their slimmest offerings. Apple, in particular, needs the battery management of iOS 26 because the Air model is expected to have a battery capacity of only 2,900 mAh.

For now, Samsung’s software seems to be doing the job, as our Galaxy S25 Edge battery test revealed that the phone lasts way longer than initially expected. The jump to a 4,200 mAh battery, however marginal, should help the S26 Edge provide users with even longer usage. In my opinion, however, that won’t be enough to justify upgrading if you’ve already got the S25 Edge.

For now, many consumers say that they don’t get the point of these new super slim phones, while others are very happy with their own S25 Edge. From what I can understand, the Edge and Air models are side-grades more than upgrades, made for users who prefer form over function.

But with battery improvements, even the biggest downside to these new models may soon be resolved.