Samsung Has Just Announced the Galaxy S26 Series.
The new Galaxy series is officially unveiled. Samsung announced its latest line of flagship phones during its massive Unpacked 2026 event. The company announced the news ahead of the event but didn’t name any specific models, though it might surprise few to learn that this year’s Galaxy S26 series phones—specifically, the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra—are being unveiled. While the new devices are similar in appearance to last year’s models, they feature some new features and changes (including some exclusive to the S26 Ultra) that may justify the upgrade.
The S26 series comes with new Galaxy AI features.
With Samsung betting heavily on artificial intelligence , it’s only logical that the Galaxy S26 series will debut several new Galaxy AI features. First up is “Now Nudge”—Samsung’s answer to the Pixel 10’s Magic Cue feature. Now Nudge uses AI to understand the context of what’s currently displayed on the screen and offers users helpful information, such as relevant photos, calendar availability, and more.
The Galaxy S26 series supports switching between three voice assistants simultaneously. While you can use Google Gemini and Bixby, users can now also use Perplexity. This includes hands-free voice commands (e.g., “Hey Plex”). Galaxy S26 users can use Perplexity to get information, manage tasks, and even navigate the device using natural voice or text prompts.
Samsung is also updating the Circle feature to Search in version 3.0. Users can now circle multiple elements in an image, such as an entire outfit, and Galaxy AI will be able to identify and list each element simultaneously. Additionally, there’s a Notification Intelligence feature, where AI will prioritize the most important messages and notifications, such as conversations with people, over promotional or subscription notifications. Higher-priority notifications will appear higher in the incoming notification list.
One of the S26 Ultra’s exclusive features is On-Screen Privacy, which allows users to only display the screen when they’re looking directly at it, as if they were using a screen protector. On-Screen Privacy can be enabled permanently or under specific conditions, such as when using certain apps or entering a password.
These are the technical specifications of the Galaxy S26 series.
All Galaxy S26 series models are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor for Galaxy, a slightly overclocked version of the SoC exclusive to Samsung phones. Compared to last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers a 20% performance boost and a 35% increase in processor power efficiency thanks to its 3-nanometer process technology. The new Adreno GPU in the 8 Elite Gen 5 is also expected to improve graphics performance by 23%.
Like the Galaxy S25 series, all three Galaxy S26 models feature a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an adaptive refresh rate of 1-120Hz. Storage options for the S26 and S26+ are 256GB and 512GB, while the S26 Ultra also offers a 1TB option. All three models come with 12GB of RAM, but the 1TB S26 Ultra has 16GB of RAM. Screen sizes remain relatively unchanged, with the exception of the base S26 model, which has increased to 6.3 inches.
-
Galaxy S26: 6.3-inch display (2340 x 1080)
-
Galaxy S26+: 6.7-inch display (3120 x 1440)
-
Galaxy S26 Ultra: 6.9-inch display (3120 x 1440)
The base S26 model features a 4,300 mAh battery, up from the 4,000 mAh in the S25, while the S26+ retains a 4,900 mAh battery and the S26 Ultra has a 5,000 mAh battery. The S26 supports 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, while the S26+ supports 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging. However, the S26 Ultra boasts the fastest charging speeds—60W wired and 25W wireless. Despite these figures, the Galaxy S26 series does not support the Qi2 standard with a built-in magnetic module, like the Pixelsnap in the Pixel 10 series. However, Samsung will happily sell you its official cases with built-in magnets, as well as a magnetic charging puck and magnetic battery pack.
When it comes to cameras, Samsung isn’t making any major changes to the Galaxy S26 series. The S26 and S26+ feature the same 12-megapixel ultra-wide, 50-megapixel wide-angle, and 10-megapixel telephoto lenses as the S25 and S25+. The Galaxy S26 Ultra gets a slight upgrade, at least to the 200-megapixel wide-angle lens, which now has a new f/1.4 aperture. It inherits the 50-megapixel ultra-wide and two telephoto lenses, 10-megapixel (3x) and 50-megapixel (5x), from the S25 Ultra. The 12-megapixel front-facing camera on all three models is also unchanged from the S25 series. Thanks to the wider aperture, the Galaxy S26 Ultra can shoot video in Nightography Video mode. This allows users to capture more detail in low-light conditions, complementing Samsung’s Night Mode .
When will the Galaxy S26 go on sale?
Pre-orders for the Galaxy S26 series are available starting today . The phones are available in several colors, including Cobalt Purple, Sky Blue, White, and Black. When ordering from Samsung’s website, you can also get them in Shadow Silver and Rose Gold. The S26 starts at $899.99, the S26 Plus at $1,099.99, and the S26 Ultra at $1,299.99.