If you've been pondering a potential Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, or S26 Ultra purchase ahead of the fast-approaching holiday season, now is almost definitely not the right time to pull the trigger.
That's because Samsung has quietly done what a lot of folks have been expecting to happen for a good couple of months now, hiking the recommended prices of its latest (non-foldable) ultra-high-end handsets in the US as a likely consequence of the global phenomenon known as "RAMageddon."
How bad is this price increase?
In short, pretty bad. And it's obviously made a lot worse by the fact that the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and even certain Galaxy S26 Ultra variants were already costlier at launch than their Galaxy S25 series equivalents from last year.
The Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra are not as appealing as they used to be. | Image by PhoneArena
Basically, every single Galaxy S26 series model apart from one configuration is $100 more expensive than before all of a sudden, and that particular S26 Ultra version is unfortunately receiving a $200 hike over an already extravagant $1,800 list price.
That means the 6.3-inch S26 now starts at a whopping $999.99 on its manufacturer's official US website, while the most affordable 6.7-inch S26 Plus and 6.9-inch S26 Ultra configurations are available for no less than $1,199.99 and $1,399.99, respectively. The good news? At least the recently released Galaxy S26 FE is not also getting costlier... just yet. And the same fortunately goes for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Flip 8, as well as all Galaxy A-series mid-rangers and Samsung tablets in circulation right now.
Here is the full Galaxy S26 series pricing breakdown as of October 1
Galaxy S26 - $999.99 with 256GB storage, $1,199.99 in a 512GB variant;
Galaxy S26 Plus - $1,199.99 with 256GB storage, $1,399.99 with 512GB;
Galaxy S26 Ultra - $1,399.99 with 256GB storage, $1,599.99 in a 512GB configuration, $1,999.99 with 1TB storage.
Don't forget that you have options
For starters, you have the option of boycotting Samsung and even the mobile industry as a whole and hang on to your existing smartphone a little longer. If you can't do that for whatever reason, my advice is to wait until October 6 (yes, that's just a few days away), when Amazon's second epic Prime Day sale of the year is scheduled to kick off.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
$300 off (19%)
With 512GB internal storage space, 12GB RAM, and a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor under the hood, the Galaxy S26 Ultra costs a small fortune now. But if you hurry, you can slash $300 off its newly revised list price in a white color option only without jumping through any hoops.
Amazon, by the way, was the first major US retailer to signal this Galaxy S26 series price increase, but while the "vanilla" S26 and the S26 Ultra are listed at their new "regular" prices at the e-commerce giant, the S26 Ultra is weirdly enough still available for $1,099.99 and up.
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What do you think about the Galaxy S27 family's new pricing structure?
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Even better, Amazon can currently slash a pretty substantial $300 off the newly revised price of a 512GB Galaxy S26 Ultra in a white colorway, but I'm pretty sure heftier (Prime-exclusive) discounts for the entire family will come next week, followed by similarly awesome deals for everyone around Black Friday and Cyber Monday in less than two months.
What does this mean for the Galaxy S27 series?
Do I even need to say it? Fine, I'll spell it out for you. The Galaxy S27, S27 Plus, and S27 Ultra are all but guaranteed now to cost more than their predecessors at launch, which is going to make it quite hard for Samsung to compete against Apple's hot new $1,199 iPhone 18 Pro and $1,299 iPhone 18 Pro Max.
The Galaxy S27 Ultra is now likely to cost (at least) $1,400 at launch. | Image by Android Headlines
Unless, of course, the iPhone 18 Pro duo will also get a price increase of its own soon, which is of course no longer impossible but still pretty unlikely. And then there's the "regular" iPhone 18, which is widely expected to see daylight shortly after the S27 family in 2027 at a lower recommended price than $999.99. At least that's what I'm expecting Apple to do to try to absolutely obliterate a base Galaxy S27 model that's now likely to cost exactly that.
The Galaxy S27 Pro, meanwhile, doesn't have a Galaxy S26 series equivalent, which makes it a little more difficult to predict its launch price. But it's probably going to be high. Very high.
Here are more news stories about the Galaxy S26 family:
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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