- The Galaxy S26 series could be announced in February
- Then maybe we can buy the handsets in March
- There have been repeated rumors of a delayed launch
There’s another twist in the long-running saga of ‘when will Samsung actually launch the Galaxy S26 series?’ – and it now looks like the phones won’t be available for a while after their big reveal.
According to veteran tipster @UniverseIce, the Galaxy S26 phones are set to be revealed at a Galaxy Unpacked event in February before going on sale in March. No further details have been given, so the gap between launch announcement and on-sale date could be as little as a day – or as big as 28 days.
It’s later in the year than the Galaxy S25 series, which debuted in January 2025, but we had been expect a delay with the 2026 phones. It is believed that part of the reason for the wait is that Samsung canceled the Galaxy S26 Edge model and decided to reinstate the Galaxy S26+ model.
There has also been talk of internal debate within Samsung over what naming scheme to use for these phones, with occasional mentions of a Pro model. Right now, however, it looks like the names will be the same as this year.
Coming soon
My point is that the Galaxy S26 series will be unveiled at a Galaxy Unpacked event in February and go on sale in March. The long wait has begun.😃21 December 2025
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of the Galaxy S26 launch date and availability date being out of sync – but the previous rumor suggested a January announcement ahead of a February shipment, so it looks like Samsung’s schedule has slipped since then.
Samsung is usually very good at making its phones available as soon as they are announced or soon after. For example, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, a few weeks passed between the foldable phone being announced and it becoming available for purchase (with open pre-orders in between).
Indications are that this will be a longer wait, perhaps reflecting the rather chaotic year Samsung seems to have had when it comes to getting its products lined up – and deciding whether to release a successor to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, which (like the iPhone Air) doesn’t seem to have been particularly popular.
As usual, it looks like most of the big upgrades will be exclusive to the Ultra model when it comes to the Galaxy S26 series: we might see a battery boost and a camera bump, plus the standard year-over-year increase in performance.
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