It's almost guaranteed now that the next big Unpacked event will take place on February 25 in San Francisco, with pre-orders set to kick off on the 26th, a "pre-sale" scheduled for the March 5 to March 10 period, and a proper commercial debut slated for March 11.
If you don't know what a pre-sale is, you're probably not from South Korea, and you shouldn't bother too much with either that term or the March 5 date. Instead, you should just focus on February 25 and March 11, which are likely to prove the most important dates for the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra in most markets around the world.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra definitely looks like the most exciting member of its family.
Now, I know exactly what you're thinking. Wouldn't March 11 be kind of a tardy global release date? Well, compared to the Galaxy S25 family, that's... exactly right, but surprisingly enough, most of you don't seem too bothered by that.
Remember, the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra went on sale worldwide on February 3, 2025, while the Galaxy S24 trio was commercially released on January 24, 2024. The S23 family, meanwhile, started selling on February 17, 2023, so you can say that Samsung is (intentionally or unintentionally) revising its schedule to push new Galaxy S-series launches later in the year.
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Is this the right schedule for the Galaxy S26 family?
Sounds right to me
50%
No, the phones should be released earlier
10%
I don't care about schedules, I only care about upgrades
40%
On the bright side, we should probably be grateful that the second Friday after February 25 this year falls on the 13th, as that reportedly led to Samsung's rare decision of releasing a new smartphone lineup on a Wednesday to avoid the obvious negative implications of March 13.
Will prices go up?
That remains the biggest question surrounding the S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra now that we know the S26 Edge is not happening (at least for the time being), and while today's report seems to bring bad news on that front, I wouldn't panic just yet.
Not unless you do live in South Korea, where a price increase for the Galaxy S26 series over the S25 trio is deemed as "inevitable." I don't think this report concerns any other market besides Samsung's homeland, so there's still a chance prices will be "frozen" in key territories like the US and maybe even Europe, as some insiders and tipsters have recently suggested.
If the Galaxy S26 is as similar to the S25 as we expect, a price hike will be very hard to justify. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
The problem with the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra is that... they don't look very exciting (or very different from their predecessors), which would make it virtually impossible for Samsung to justify a price hike across the board outside markets like South Korea.
Although we all know component prices and resulting production costs are increasing for practically all smartphone manufacturers, it's also no secret that profit margins on devices like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra are quite chunky, which makes many consumers expect companies to take a hit on that latter aspect before passing their rising expenses on to everyday buyers.
Unfortunately for folks who don't think they'll be able to afford the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the most exciting improvements could exclusively come to the biggest (and costliest) member of the new family, leaving prospective buyers of the "vanilla" Galaxy S26 and even the S26 Plus scratching their heads and wondering why they should snub last year's perfectly acceptable Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus.
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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