Rumored to make way for an ultra-thin Galaxy S26 Edge with a decidedly unconventional design pictured a couple of months ago, the Galaxy S26 Plus is almost definitely happening after all, and according to one of the most reliable mobile tech leakers around, its external appearance will be mainly inspired by the Galaxy S25 Plus.
Hello there, handsome!
Look, you can clearly accuse Samsung of playing it safe with not just the S26 Plus, but pretty much the entire Galaxy S26 family (in more ways than one), but I don't think you can ever call the phone depicted today by Android Headlines in collaboration with Steve Hemmerstoffer, aka @OnLeaks, ugly.
The S26 Plus definitely looks familiar, but not bad... if you ask me, at least.
The camera island on the back is nowhere near as protruding and as attention-grabbing (in all the wrong ways) as what was rendered for the S26 Edge in September, but at the same time, it's a little more distinctive, and dare I say it, more premium-looking than the three separate rear-facing lenses of the S25 Plus.
The upcoming handset's corners, meanwhile, are rounded, but not too rounded, the screen is flat, the bezels thin and symmetrical, and perhaps most importantly, the profile is slim, but not too slim.
Do you like how the Galaxy S26 Plus looks?
Yes, it's gorgeous
20.83%
It's... okay
40.28%
No, it's too safe
26.39%
No, it's ugly
12.5%
No, I liked that S26 Edge design better
0%
The Galaxy S26 Plus is expected to measure 7.35mm in thickness, which is obviously significantly chunkier than the S25 Edge's 5.8mm waist, but it more or less matches the profile of its predecessor. Said predecessor measures 158.4mm in height and 75.8mm in width, and with 158.4 and 75.7mm dimensions respectively, the S26+ is now all but guaranteed to sport an unchanged 6.7-inch screen size.
Will anything be truly different from the S25+?
Probably, but there's not enough (credible) information to tell you why the S26+ is a thing... other than the poor sales of the S25 Edge. One key change, of course, will make the new phone faster than the old one, but even in the processing speed department, there are no guarantees yet, as some rumors point to global Exynos 2600 use, while others claim Samsung could adopt a "classic" regional split strategy.
The S25 Plus is not the world's most popular phone, but it is way more successful than the S25 Edge. | Image Credit -- PhoneAren
Whether or not the Galaxy S26 Plus will pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip in any key region, its spec sheet is very likely to include a 12GB RAM, 256 and 512GB storage options, as well as a primary 50MP rear-facing camera.
There's a bit of confusion surrounding the other two imaging sensors expected to sit on the handset's back, and things like battery capacity and charging speeds are also not etched in stone (although they're clearly very likely to go unchanged from the 4,900mAh cell size and 45W support of the S25 Plus).
Has Samsung made the right choice "uncancelling" the Galaxy S26 Plus?
Obviously, only time will tell, but while I'd have definitely loved to see this phone revise and refine a few more S25+ details, I'm not a fan of companies making changes for the sake of change, and neither should you.
The S26+ is apparently alive and coming alongside the S26 and S26 Ultra soon.
If the Galaxy S25 Plus ain't broken, why try to fix it... and replace it with something that is (kind of) broken? Don't get me wrong, I still feel like the Galaxy S26 Edge also deserves a chance, but if that comes out sometime in late spring or early summer and the S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra break cover in January or February 2026, I'm probably going to be delighted. Even more so if the S26 Edge ends up ditching that horrible camera hump.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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