Samsung Galaxy S26 review

Midrange cameras at a flagship price, standout selfies

The Galaxy S26 cameras have remained unchanged compared to last year's model - even more so than the Ultra and, at least in the case of our specific units, even more so than the S26+. All three modules on the back report the same hardware, though the front-facing camera has been updated, in line with the other models in this series.

Hardware apps reveal that the primary camera of our review unit features the in-house ISOCELL GN3 sensor, just like last year - it's got a 1/1.56" optical format (or 1/1.57" according to some sources), 50MP nominal resolution, and 1.0µm pixel size.

Interestingly, the Galaxy S26+ that we obtained from the same place as this here S26 reports using a newer version of seemingly the same sensor - it's ISOCELL GNG on the Plus.

The telephoto camera on the non-Ultra S26s uses the same sensor size as last year, at 1/3.94". It's also the same size as the S26 Ultra gets, which is a downgrade for the ultimate Galaxy, but that's its own problem.

In the vanilla S26, there's another discrepancy, though - the S26 reports the 3K1 sensor (so same as last year), while the S26+ says it's got the 3LD model inside. It could be a batch-specific difference, it could be one sensor on the Plus and the other on the vanilla, it could be anything. Neither has particularly exciting specs, for what it's worth.

The non-Ultra Galaxy S-series models still keep the conventional RGB sensors for their ultrawide cameras (the Ultras get a Tetrapixel unit for a second generation now). Neither of our review units would disclose a sensor model number, though - last year we had a Sony IMX564, and if Samsung's approach for the other modules is any indication, there's no reason why it wouldn't be that one again. Either way, it's still the same sensor size - 1/2.55" or thereabouts. Again, no autofocus on the non-Ultras' ultrawides.

Shifting to the selfie camera, it's using the same sensor as last year, but like both bigger S26s, this S26 gets a wider lens this time around, for improved coverage. Modest at first glance, the 1/3.2" sensor punches above its weight, so we're not complaining.

• Wide (main): 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN3 (S5KGN3, 1/1.56", 1.0µm-2.0µm); 23mm, f/1.8, OIS, dual-pixel PDAF (9.5cm - ∞); 8K30/4K60 video recording.
• Telephoto: 10MP Samsung ISOCELL 3K1 (S5K3K1, 1/3.94", 1.0µm); 69mm, f/2.4, OIS, PDAF (17cm - ∞); 4K60.
• Ultrawide: 12MP (1/2.55", 1.4µm); 14mm, f/2.2, fixed focus; 4K60.
• Front camera: 12MP Samsung ISOCELL 3LU (S5K3LU, 1/3.2", 1.12µm); 23mm, f/2.2, dual-pixel PDAF; 4K60.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

In broad daylight, you can count on great photos from the Galaxy S26's main camera. Details are very good, and random textures are rendered naturally. Just like on the S26+, we're seeing some grittiness in the detail, particularly in the shadows, but it's not too offensive. White balance is reliable, and colors look pleasing, while dynamic range is excellent.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

Human subjects get pleasing skin tones and a hint of background separation when shooting in Photo mode. Portrait mode does well with subject detection and adds a moderate amount of computational blur - the viewfinder preview makes it look extreme, but the end result is believable.

Human subjects, main camera (1x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

The 50MP shots on the S26 aren't as detailed as what we got on the S26+ - the larger model could squeeze a bit more out of a bright outdoor scene.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

The 2x zoom mode on the S26 will get you good results in well-lit scenes, and less so in dimmer conditions. The S26+ has a bit of an edge in this too - again, not really a significant advantage, but another small win still.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

2x portraits on the S26 are looking good, thanks to improved shooting distance and perspective, while detail remains decent enough not to put you off zoomed-in people shots.

Human subjects, main camera (2x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

Telephoto camera

The relatively unassuming telephoto produces okay results, with pleasing colors, wide dynamic range and alright detail. In most situations, we found the S26 to be taking the same shots as the S26+, but there were occasional instances when the plus would be marginally sharper and no instances where we'd give the nod to the non-plus.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x)

Human subjects look good at 3x too, though you might find the Portrait mode's default bokeh effect a bit too strong.

Human subjects, main camera (3x): Photo mode • Portrait mode

Ultrawide camera

The S26's ultrawide camera doesn't have autofocus, and its focus is fixed somewhere out in the distance, so if you try to shoot any nearby subjects, they'll simply end up blurry. Quality is virtually identical to that of the S26+'s ultrawide - no amount of staring at images side by side could convince us otherwise. That means a fairly steep decline in indoor photo quality vs outdoors - well-lit outdoor scenes have very good detail and vivid colors, while shadows or indoor scenes in general can end up on the soft side.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Close-ups

The S26 is no close-up shooting champ, but it just might be a little bit better than the Plus or the Ultra with the 3x telephoto. The S26 can focus as close as 17cm away from a subject, while the 3x cameras of the S26+ and S26 Ultra can only go as close as 22cm. It's not a massive difference, but it's something, though the actual quality is unremarkable on any of the three phones - it's just not a great camera to begin with.

Closeup samples, telephoto camera (3x)

That 3x performance isn't entirely relevant, though, since you'd get better magnification at 2x from the main camera and at 2x the S26 is that little bit behind the S26+. Ultimately, however, there's no real winner in this whole thing.

Closeup samples, main camera (2x)

Selfies

Well, the winner might be you, in fact - if you're into selfies. The S26 packs the latest Galaxy selfie camera with a tried and tested sensor and a now-wider lens, still AF-capable. The images have great sharpness, wide dynamic range, and excellent colors. Low-light results are also not half bad.

Selfie samples

Low-light photo quality

The S26 adopts Samsung's latest Night mode implementation that we already saw on the S26 Ultra and the S26+. There's no dedicated Night mode at first glance, but you get a multi-tiered Auto approach in Photo mode. The Auto doesn't kick in too often, and when it doesn't, you have no way of forcing it on. When the crescent icon does appear, you can let the Auto handle it (in which case there's still no Night mode applied in many instances, i.e. the crescent doesn't turn yellow), or dial it up to a maximum level (but with a duration determined by the phone). It's more or less the iPhone way, and we're not exactly fans.

If you dig further into it, you'll find out that the Camera Assistant app (a popular add-on by Samsung themselves, but still a separate download from the Galaxy store - IYKYK) will allow you to reintroduce the dedicated Night mode to your mode carousel. That will get you another level of uncertainty, different shooting behavior, and oftentimes different end results. There has to be a better way, Samsung.

Main camera

The main camera's full auto photos will probably strike you as soft and noisy - while they are well detailed, for the most part, they do look pretty rough. The S26+'s approach is the same, yes, but here things are noisier still. We can make excuses all night long, but this isn't how a high-end main camera's low-light photos should look. Colors could use a saturation nudge too, though dynamic range is pretty great as is.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

Maxing out the auto Night mode will clean things up a bit, but it will still result in softer images than what we got out of the Plus, which itself wasn't exactly the sharpness benchmark.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), max Night mode

As we observed on the S26+, if you go through the extra hoops to enable the dedicated Night mode through the Camera Assistant utility, you'll get more reliable results. However, that's not exactly the point-and-shoot experience we would expect from a smartphone in 2026, particularly one of the S26's stature.

At 2x zoom, the photos get somewhat blotchy - again, worse than the S26+. 2x from a wide camera is rarely much good in the dark, and with that in mind, the Galaxy's results are par for the course.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

More intense Night mode action may help in this or that scene.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x), max Night mode

Telephoto camera

The telephoto camera's photos are also quite noisy and soft at 3x at night, when you shoot in full Auto. It still manages well in terms of dynamic range and colors, we reckon.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x)

Better results are a couple of taps away - tapping on the crescent icon and choosing the maximum value will yield superior results, though you might encounter a scene where the crescent just doesn't show up.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x), max Night mode

Ultrawide camera

It's more or less the same on the ultrawide - mushy default output that benefits from some more aggressive Night mode action.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

More Night mode makes them better.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), max Night mode

Video quality

The Galaxy S26 offers an extensive video recording feature set for the class, even if it doesn't bring a lot of changes compared to the S25.

Starting with the regular Video mode, the phone can record video up to 4K60 with all of its cameras (front-facing one included). Also available is an 8K30 option on the main camera.

The Pro video mode adds a 24fps frame rate setting for 4K on all cameras, as well as 8K24 for the main camera, but there's no 4K120 as you'd find on the Ultra.

The out-of-the-box setting for the video codec is H. 265 (HEVC), and you can further choose between prioritizing for quality (the default state) or smaller file sizes. Alternatively, you can opt for the older and less efficient h.264 codec, where you don't have further quality settings. The high-end APV codec that's the third option on the S26 Ultra is missing here.

There's an option for 10-bit HDR10+ recording, as well as a Log option that can be enabled for both Pro video and regular Video mode.

A new addition with this year's model is the selection of pre-loaded LUTs (Standard, Blockbuster, Coming-of-age, Romance and Thriller), but there's no option to import your own LUT.

In Pro mode, you also get finer control over focus and exposure (complete with zebras and false color aids), plus mic directionality settings and audio level indicators.

Video stabilization is available in all quality settings on all cameras, and you can disable it globally if you have other means of ensuring stability.

The S26 also gets the Horizon lock mode for stabilization, where the phone will shoot a mostly level video pretty much regardless of which way you rotate it around the axis perpendicular to its plane. Resolution maxes out at 1440p in this mode.

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

Daylight videos at 1x are pretty good. Detail is solid - again, the S26+, or at least our random sample of it, is ever so slightly sharper, but the S26 is still good. Dynamic range is great and color rendition is good too, with a warm tinge we didn't see on the Plus.

2x clips aren't bad either - while not exactly pin-sharp, they're better than what we've seen from a lot of phones without a dedicated camera at that zoom level.

Just like the Plus, the vanilla S26 is on the soft side at 3x zoom, and there's not much difference between the two.

The ultrawide camera captures relatively sharp footage for an ultrawide, alongside good global properties.

Samsung Galaxy S26 video screengrabs, daylight: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

Low-light clips from the main camera at 1x are actually quite good, with plenty of detail and good exposure and dynamic range.

The ultrawide is also holding up well after dark, even if its shadows are quite soft. The telephoto isn't much good though.

Samsung Galaxy S26 video screengrabs, low light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3x

The Galaxy S26 does a great job with stabilization - it's a little better than the Plus, for one reason or another. Its main camera clips are nicely stable, without the Plus's fine tremors. The ultrawide and the telephoto are also hard to complain about in terms of stability.