Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26 are official: the 2026 flagships that are a return to form

Both the Galaxy S26 base model and the Galaxy S26 Plus have adopted the new design of the Galaxy S26 Ultra for a more unified look across the lineup. The two phones also feature returning camera islands on the rear, just like the Ultra, and have rounder corners than the Galaxy S25 series.

Interestingly, even though the Galaxy S26 Ultra has been slimmed down further, the base model and the Plus have not. The Galaxy S26 Plus is still 7.3 mm in thickness, just like the Galaxy 25 Plus was, and the Galaxy S26 measures in at 7.2 mm just likes the phone that preceded it.

When it comes to screen sizes, the Galaxy S26 Plus has seen no increase at all and still measures around 6.7 inches across. The base Galaxy S26 has seen a very small increase and is 6.3 inches across compared to the 6.2 inches of the Galaxy S25.

This year, Samsung has also decided to offer all of the S26 models in the same color options, so the base model and the Plus come in the same colors that their Ultra counterpart does. You can get the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus in the following six colors:

• Black
• White
• Sky Blue
• Cobalt Violet
• Silver Shadow (online exclusive)
• Pink Gold (online exclusive)

The Galaxy S26 Plus also weighs the same as the Galaxy S25 Plus at 190 grams. The base model, however, weighs ever so slightly more: 167 grams as compared to the 162 grams of the Galaxy S25. Lastly, both phones come with an IP 68 rating for water and dust resistance, just like the Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Plus before them.

Cameras

If you were hoping for new sensors or apertures, you’re going to be more than a bit disappointed. The Galaxy S26 Plus and the Galaxy S26 are using the exact same cameras as last year’s Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25.

You’ve got the same 50 MP main camera on the rear for both of the phones, in addition to the same 12 MP ultra-wide and 10 MP telephoto cameras as well. The selfie camera on both phones is also the same as last year: a 12 MP sensor.

However, there are some improvements here that do help the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus stand out from their predecessors and from each other as well. Both phones will be following the lead of the Galaxy S26 Ultra and adopting a wider FOV (Field Of View) for their selfie cameras: 85 degrees, up from 80 degrees.

This means that selfies taken on both the Plus and the base model of the Galaxy S26 series will now capture a wider image than the Galaxy S25 phones did. And that’s not all: the Galaxy S26 Plus features a new upgrade that is not found on the base model.

Alongside the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Galaxy S26 Plus also features Samsung’s new “ProScaler” technology which greatly enhances photos and videos. The finer details of an image — like text, for example — is sharpened and other textures are smoothed out for a much clearer result overall. Super Steady, meanwhile, will now let you record videos on the Galaxy S26 phones with much better framing for bumpy footage.

Samsung’s mobile Digital Natural Image engine (mDNIe) also helps enhance images for much more realistic and lifelike colors. Skin tones in particular should see a jump in quality compared to the Galaxy S25 series. This, and better image processing in general, is the biggest camera upgrade for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus.

Display

Both the Galaxy S26 Plus and the Galaxy S26 lack the new privacy display found on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but that doesn’t mean that their displays fall behind in other metrics. The screens on these phones are some of the best that you will see all year and you will not be disappointed with video playback or general use.

On the base Galaxy S26, you get a 6.3-inch AMOLED display — up from 6.2 inches on the Galaxy S25 — with a resolution of 2340 x 1080, or FHD+. You get a ppi (pixels per inch) density of 411, which means that you’ll be getting crisp visuals no matter what you use your phone for.

Understandably, being the larger phone meant that the Galaxy S26 Plus had to come with a higher resolution to achieve the same quality of image output. As such, the 6.7-inch AMOLED display on the Plus has a resolution of 3120 x 1440, the exact same as on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Funnily enough, the Plus has a higher ppi than the Ultra due to the latter being 0.2 inches larger: 516 compared to 500. Both the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus also feature the same variable refresh rates as the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and can go as low as 1 Hz and as high as 120 Hz. The two phones also share the same peak brightness as the Ultra at 2,600 nits.

Processors and batteries

This is where the Galaxy S26 Plus starts to differ from the base model, and where both of these phones differ even further from their Ultra counterpart.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor in all regions worldwide. That is not the case for the Galaxy S26 Plus and the Galaxy S26, which will only use that chip in the U.S., China, and Japan. Europe and pretty much everywhere else in the world will be getting the Exynos 2600 variant instead.

The Galaxy S26 has a battery with a capacity of 4,300 mAh, which is a respectable upgrade from the 4,000 mAh battery on the Galaxy S25. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Plus has the same battery capacity as the Galaxy S25 Plus: 4,900 mAh. The larger battery ensures that the Plus model, despite its more pixel-dense display, also manages “all day” battery life.

Charging speeds are another aspect where all three Galaxy S26 phones differ greatly. Neither the Galaxy S26 Plus nor the Galaxy S26 are getting 60W wired charging like the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, both phones differ enough from each other that you might change your mind about which one to get.

The base model retains the wired charging speeds of its predecessor at up to 25W, able to reach around 55 percent charge in 30 minutes. It also keeps the same 15W wireless charging speeds of the Galaxy S25 as well, so there are no improvements here.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Plus still has the same 45W wireless charging as the Galaxy S25 Plus, reaching a charge of 69 percent in 30 minutes. However, the S26 Plus has gotten faster wireless charging at 20W, up from 15W on the S25 Plus. Both phones still lack Qi2 magnets, but are Qi2 ready for use with specialized phone cases.

Galaxy AI

And now we come to one of the biggest and most expansive suite of features that help the Galaxy S26 series stand out from the competition: Galaxy AI. Galaxy AI has been implemented in even more everyday tasks and has become even smarter and more capable than before.

Now Nudge blends in seamlessly with your phone use, suggesting relevant actions whenever they’re actually needed. For example, if a friend of yours asks for photos of a recent trip, Now Nudge will automatically suggest relevant photos from your phone’s gallery, removing the need to go searching for them yourself.

Now Brief has also been made into a more personal and proactive feature, more intelligently serving reminders based on usage context. Circle to Search, another very useful feature, has been improved so that you can now inquire about more than one item in a photo at the same time.

Bixby, Samsung’s digital assistant, has also been improved drastically. Users can now converse with Bixby in a much more natural tone and the assistant is able to adjust the phone’s settings or navigate the UI when prompted to in simple language. This has always been the goal of AI assistants on smartphones, and Bixby delivers. You can also choose to use other agents like Gemini and Perplexity in lieu of Bixby if you wish.

Call Screening lets you know why an unknown number called and Privacy Alerts tell you when apps try to access sensitive information. Meanwhile, the new Galaxy Buds 4 can also be used to activate AI assistance with voice prompts or even just a head nod.

Perplexity has partnered with the Samsung browser as well, so now you can keep track of all of your open tabs and see all of that information in a much more organized manner.

Pricing, storage options, and release dates

As was expected, industrywide component shortages have driven prices up for the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus, though the S26 Ultra is safe for now. Both the base model and the Galaxy S26 Plus have seen an increase of $100 in their starting prices.

The Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus come in 256 GB and 512 GB storage options, and both phones offer 12 GB of RAM. The base model starts at $899 while the Galaxy S26 Plus starts at $1,099.

Both phones are now available for pre-ordering, and general availability will start from March 11.