Samsung Galaxy S26: The ultimate guide to Samsung’s flagships

Slightly later than usual, Samsung unveiled its latest series of flagship Galaxy phones for the year, bringing with them a handful of changes that, if we’re being honest, weren’t much of a surprise. Nevertheless, the full Galaxy S26 range is now complete, so we can bring you all the final details in this ultimate guide.

Although they were hardly the most innovative phones compared to their immediate predecessors, the Galaxy S25, the S25+ and the S25 Ultra were all great phones in their own right, and with Samsung’s promise of seven years of software updates, not to mention the various improvements to OneUI that we’ve seen as of late, the handsets provided quite a compelling case to new adopters.

Due to initial rumours about the S26 being replaced by an all-new ‘S26 Pro’, and the Plus model getting dumped entirely for the now canned S26 Edge, we had hoped that this generation of Samsung flagships would bring a ton of change along with it, and although that clearly hasn’t come to fruition with a more ‘business as usual’ approach, there are still some upgrades that are well worth knowing about.

After all, if you’re upgrading from a much older device, like the Samsung Galaxy S23 or below, then you might be tempted to pick up one of these newer phones, or see if you can save some cash by opting for the Galaxy S25 range, as it’ll now be available for much less. With that in mind, we’ve put together this guide to highlight the key changes in the S26 range, how much these phones cost and when you can expect to buy them.

This guide has also since been updated following the announcement of the Galaxy S26 FE, which serves as Samsung’s key mid-range offering for 2026 and may be more preferable to anyone who would like to avoid flagship prices.

Read our full S26 reviews:

• Samsung Galaxy S26
• Samsung Galaxy S26+ review
• Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

Luke Baker

Samsung Galaxy S26: What’s new?

Samsung’s all-new Privacy Display

Here’s a feature that drummed up so much interest via leaks and rumours that Samsung pretty much confirmed its existence long before the Galaxy S26 phones were unveiled. The company has developed an ingenious bit of display tech which can block out segments of the screen to those who might be viewing it from a side-on perspective.

The idea behind Privacy Display is that it can be used to stop people around you from seeing sensitive information, whether that be a notification about a payment that’s just been sent to your account, or you’re simply reading a saucy novel. What’s impressive is that the feature can be customised to block out certain sections of the display whilst leaving the rest of it as is.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Given just how much we rely on our smartphones for our finances, this is a huge win for on the go security and we won’t be too surprised if other manufacturers start to implement their own version of the feature in the near future, but there’s one big caveat with Samsung’s implementation that needs to be understood: it’s only available on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

This unfortunately means that you won’t be getting the same level of display security with the standard Galaxy S26 or the S26+, which is a bummer for those who don’t have the budget to cover the S26 Ultra’s fairly lofty price tag.

Sporadic changes to battery life and charging

Although Samsung’s flagship phones typically have smaller batteries than most of the competition, they’re able to rely on highly optimised software to go further than you’d expect during everyday use, making them great options for most people.

However, we were hoping that Samsung might look to invest more in battery tech given the leaps we’ve seen recently from the OnePlus 15 and the Oppo Find X9 Pro. There are some changes this time around, but it seems as if Samsung only got half of the memo.

Luke Baker

Of all the phones coming out, only the entry-level S26 has seen any sort of change to battery capacity, jumping from 4000mAh to 4300mAh. Although that’s hardly a major leap, because of Samsung’s ability to make its batteries go the distance, it should offer more flexibility to those who like to enjoy a spot of mobile gaming when the mood strikes.

In terms of charging speeds, there are some upgrades but mostly for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Instead of capping out at 45W, users can now top up the phone at 60W over a wired connection which should mean less time spent waiting around for a full charge. Wireless also jumps from 15- to 25W, which also applies to the S26+.

What’s arguably most surprising here is the lack of magnetic Qi2 wireless charging. It’s a glaring omission, as it’s readily available on the Pixel 10 range and the iPhone range for years, known as MagSafe.

Slightly better cameras for just one phone

When it comes to camera tech, the upgrades here are even more sparse than on the battery front. A bit like with the new secure display feature, it’s only the S26 Ultra that sees any type of attention here.

Megapixel counts are completely unchanged as the S25 Ultra has almost the exact same quad-camera set-up as its predecessor, but what has changed are the aperture counts on the 200Mp wide-angle lens and the 50Mp telephoto sensor, moving to f/1.4 and f/2.9, respectively.

Luke Baker

What this change should amount to is better low-light performance when using either of those lenses, so if you’re the type of person who loves to document a night out then this could be right up your street.

Faster chipsets and a return to Exynos

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone given that it’s the one change that can always be counted on with each new generation of Samsung phones, but there’s a new array of chipsets in town that should pave the way for more efficient performance.

What is slightly surprising is that Samsung has moved back to using its in-house Exynos CPUs on some phones after having Snapdragon chips on every S25 handset around the world.

This time around the Galaxy S26 and the S26+ will have the new Exynos 2600 chipset in certain regions like the UK, whilst the S26 Ultra will have the slightly tweaked Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy CPU.

Luke Baker

Although this might be cause for concern to some regarding the power of the S26 and S26+, everything we’ve heard so far points towards a major breakthrough in performance for Exynos that should help to close the gap.

Of course, we won’t know exactly how powerful the chipset is until we get the phones in for testing, but the fact that it’s been built on a far more efficient 2nm process speaks volumes over what we can expect.

An ever-so slight design tweak

Here’s something that you might miss if your eyes only glance over the new S26 phones – there is a minor change in the design to help you identify these phones from the pack.

Aside from the new colourways that are available, like Cobalt Violet, each of these devices now has a raised camera bar on the back, not too dissimilar to the camera plateau that Apple has made use of on the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone Air.

Luke Baker

Goodbye 128GB

Another area where Samsung has sought to mirror Apple’s strategy – the brand has now completely moved away from offering 128GB models for most of its mainline phones with the S26 now available with a starting configuration of 256GB. The only exception to this rule is the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE.

There is a trade-off with that as you’ll discover further down in our pricing section, but it is interesting to see the industry at large recognising that in 2026, 128GB just isn’t enough for storing apps, videos and more.

OneUI 8.5 is here in earnest

While a few beta testers have been able to access an ‘in progress’ version of Samsung’s new Android overlay, OneUI 8.5 makes its full debut, right out of the box on the Galaxy S26 range.

OneUI 8.5 already stands on the outstanding aesthetic changes brought about with OneUI 7 but this time around there are a few helpful features to improve everyday usability. For example, Bixby is getting a big AI-infused update that allows it to more seamlessly respond to typical conversations, and it can even be used to tweak the settings of the new phones via voice commands.

Elsewhere, you can have it set so that calls go straight to voicemail over a certain period of time, so if you need to lock in and be productive, you won’t have to worry about being distracted by incoming calls.

Here is the full table of specs for the S26 range:

The Galaxy S26 FE enters the fray

A few months after the wider Galaxy S26 range came to market, Samsung has now added an addition to the line-up in the mid-range Samsung Galaxy S26 FE. Even though it features an increased starting price of £699/$699 (£50/$50 up from the Galaxy S25 FE), the phone still serves as a more affordable buy, particularly now that the other S26 phones are significantly pricier.

The phone isn’t a major reinvention, but rather a refined version of its predecessor with a handful of tweaks designed to improve everyday usability. Most of the changes can be found in the cameras, as there’s a new 12Mp ultra-wide camera that features better HDR performance, which should be helpful for when you’re capturing a sunset and want to do the scene justice.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

For video recording, there’s Horizon Lock, which uses action camera-style levelling to ensure that you get super smooth footage regardless of how the phone moves in your hand. The phone also gets My FanCam, a feature that was previously exclusive to the latest Galaxy Z Fold phones, which uses AI to track a particular subject in whatever video you’ve taken. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s ideal for things like dance videos where you want to stand out from the crowd.

The phone launches with One UI 9 out of the box, including improved software capabilities such as Audio Eraser, which has expanded to cover videos from YouTube, Instagram and Netflix. The S26 FE features the Exynos 2500 chipset under the hood, the same processor previously used for the Galaxy Z Flip 7.

The phone certainly isn’t a must-have upgrade for those who own the Galaxy S25 FE, but it will be worth considering for those who are moving on from a much older device and would prefer to have the latest bells and whistles without having to pay out for flagship prices.

When is the Samsung Galaxy S26 release date?

You can now order a Samsung Galaxy S26 following the release date of 11 March, though Amazon went early in some markets, shipping devices from 6 March.

The Galaxy S26 FE was revealed a few months later on 27 August, and will go on sale 4 September.

Buy the Galaxy S26 range from Samsung

Buy the Galaxy S26 range from Amazon

Luke Baker

How much does the Samsung Galaxy S26 cost?

Given that Samsung has mostly stuck to its guns in terms of pricing over the last couple of years, we had hoped that the brand might look to absorb any uptick in production cost amidst a fairly turbulent time for the global economy, but that’s not the case.

For the first time in a while, the mainline Samsung Galaxy phones are getting a price increase.

At the entry level, the standard Galaxy S26 will now set you back £879 and upwards. This is for 256GB of storage, as there’s no longer a 128GB model, but it’s still £20 more than the same S25 model.

The S26+ and the S26 Ultra now start at the higher costs of £1,099 and £1,279 respectively, so you’ll be paying more no matter which model you get.

Although the entry price of the Galaxy S26 FE hasn’t suffered too much, being just £50 more expensive than before, it’s the higher storage options that have received a hefty add-on to their cost. The 256GB and 512GB options have leapt up by £100 and £150 respectively.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE prices

• 128GB – £699/$699
• 256GB – £799/$799
• 512GB – £949 (unavailable in the US)

Samsung Galaxy S26 prices

• 256GB – £879/$899.99
• 512GB – £1,049/$1099.99

Samsung Galaxy S26+ prices

• 256GB – £1,099/$1,099.99
• 512GB -£1,269/$1,299.99

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra prices

• 256GB – £1,279/$1,299.99
• 512GB – £1,449/$1,499.99
• 1TB – £1,699/$1,799.99

Luke Baker