We’re approaching the time of year when Samsung traditionally holds a Galaxy Unpacked event to unveil a new generation of Galaxy S series flagship phones. And going by generational naming convention, we’d expect this upcoming line to carry the S26 moniker.
But if you’re expecting major changes to the Galaxy S26 family compared to the current generation of Samsung Galaxy S25 phones, don’t hold your breath – because the updates look to be incremental rather than revolutionary.
Still, there’s plenty to chew on, so I’ve gathered below what I feel are the most important rumors and information so far about the Samsung Galaxy S26.
1. Same design – but that’s not a problem
Most of the rumors and tips so far have pointed to the Samsung Galaxy S26 series having pretty much the exact same design as the Galaxy S25 family.
However, some minor changes have been proposed. For example, there’s been a hint or two about the phones having more of a camera module instead of raised lenses on the back, but we’ve seen that before with previous S-series phones; I would love to see a return of the Contour Cut camera module that first arrived on the Galaxy S21 as it was an interesting piece of design.
Keeping the design the same isn’t bad though. Flagship phones have become quite iterative, which is boring for tech journalists, but handy for consumers and brand building, as it makes the models easily recognizable and sets a standard for what people can expect, especially those with upgrade cycles.
I also think the Galaxy S25 series is one of the most attractively designed smartphones out there, with even the large Galaxy S25 Ultra feeling sleek and refined, to the point where I think Samsung has nailed the large phone format better than anyone else.
That said, I’d like some fresher and more dynamic colors for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as the S25 Ultra’s options were a bit underwhelming; I’d love to see a UK racing green option, for example.
2. New chips – of course
As secure as night follows day, the Galaxy S26 series comes with a new chipset. Or even two of them.
Last year, the Galaxy S25 phones all used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 4 for the Galaxy chipset, while the previous year’s Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ had Qualcomm chips for the US and China and Exynos chips for the rest of the world.
This division could be back for the S26, with only South Korean models getting the Exynos 2600 chip and other models getting a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, likely adapted for Samsung.
Given the performance Apple has squeezed out of its Pro A-series chips, you can place a safe bet that the Snapdragon chip will at least come out swinging, with decent boosts in power and graphics performance over its predecessor. How much of a difference this might make in the real world isn’t as clear, but as more AI features become a reality, on-device performance could be key to getting smart agents to provide quick responses.
These chips could also support improved modems and facilitate better satellite connectivity, and I imagine efforts to improve efficiency and thus battery life will have been made by Qualcomm and Samsung.
3. Don’t expect camera hardware upgrades
There were rumblings last year of new camera sensors for the Galaxy S26 series, but the jury is still out on whether that will happen. If it does, the sensors may be new, but there’s no real talk of them getting a big boost in megapixels.
Some early rumors have suggested that the Galaxy S26 and S26+ could get a 50MP ultra-wide camera, but we haven’t heard much about that lately.
This is no bad thing, as the Galaxy S25 series all have strong cameras and are worthy contenders for high spots on our best camera phones list. And I think that rather than dramatically upgrading the camera hardware, Samsung will likely work more on refining its computational photography and AI-powered photo features with the Galaxy S26 models, as well as polishing video capture.
4. Potentially larger batteries
A number of rumors have hinted at bigger batteries for all Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra, with boosts of 300mAh for the former and 200mAh for the latter. Not exactly big changes, but combined with potential efficiency gains brought by a new chip, these boosts could make for phones that last longer than their predecessors. But it looks like the Galaxy S26+ may lose out in the battery upgrade department.
Don’t expect any big boost in charging either, as there’s no solid hint of improved charging power. But that’s not a huge potential disappointment, as the last few generations of Galaxy phones have all charged reasonably quickly without seemingly compromising on battery pack life.
5. Likely to launch in February
The last two generations of the Galaxy S series phones were launched in January, but all the credible rumors so far point towards a late February launch for the Galaxy S26 series. February 25th has been marked as the likely day for a Galaxy Unpacked event where we can expect the new phones to make their debut.
Samsung has previously launched Galaxy phones in February, so this isn’t a huge surprise, but it’s about four to six weeks later than usual. I hope this means we get super-refined flagship phones.
Sure, a price hike is also on the cards, but only between $30 / £22 / AU$45 and $50 / £37 / AU$75, compared to the previous generation. Given the price increases that many products are facing right now, this seems palatable, but hardly ideal.
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