Samsung Galaxy S26: Everything we know so far

Design

As the Galaxy S26 Edge seems prepped to be the full-on replacement for the Galaxy Plus line, Samsung is doubling down on its efforts to offer one of the slimmest phones on the market. The original S25 Edge was already fairly slimline at 5.8mm thick, but now it appears as if its successor will shrink down even further to a minuscule 5.5mm.

The S26 Ultra is also rumoured to get thinner, potentially down to under 8mm from the S25 Ultra’s 8.2mm. It’ll also apparently weigh “a few grams less” than the current 218g.

Beyond potential name changes, there’s currently no other confirmed information regarding specific design elements such as materials (glass, metal, or a combination), colour options, or overall aesthetic choices. There’s a chance that the titanium frame, which is currently exclusive to the Ultra and Edge, will be applied to other model/s, but nothing has been revealed.

The other rumoured change we’ve heard about so far is the removal of the controversial camera rings that stick out of the back of the S25 Ultra. These will apparently be gone, but with no impact on the IP68 water and dust resistance.

Significantly, despite the regular model being replaced with a Pro version, the S26 Pro is expected to retain its compact design. Supposed dummy models back these rumours up, and also suggest the Galaxy S26 phones will match the Pixel 10 series in getting built-in magnets for Qi2 wireless charging.

Given that Samsung has changed the design slightly on the Galaxy S25 series compared to the Galaxy S24 series, its successor was never likely to be an overhaul. Indeed, the rumoured front of the S26 Ultra looks almost identical to the S25 Ultra, with the same thickness of bezel and only slightly more curved edges.

Subsequent CAD renders double down on the S26 Edge design, suggesting it’ll look a lot like iPhone 17 Pro models from the back.

Android Headlines

The phone will also supposedly be thinner than the S25 Edge (5.8mm), clocking in at just 5.5mm. Significantly, that would make it slimmer than the 5.6mm iPhone Air.

Leaked renders of the full Galaxy S26 series reveal a familiar-looking design:

Smartprix

Specific CAD renders of the S26 Ultra have now emerged and been animated, showcasing a very similar design to the S25 Ultra.

Elsewhere, it’d be nice to see the Bluetooth S Pen from the Galaxy S24 Ultra make a return, after it was replaced by a less functional one on the S25 Ultra, but a similar move on the Galaxy Tab S11 series suggests it won’t be making a return.

The S Pen is almost certain to continue on the S26 Ultra in some form, and a leaked image suggests a small tweak to its design to conform to the curves of the device while being conveniently stowed away in the bottom-left corner.

Sources: The Elec | Android Headlines (2) (3) | PhoneArt via X (2) (3) (4) | Android Headlines (2) | Sonny Dickson via X | Smartprix

Display

Word that the S26 Pro would feature a slightly larger 6.27-inch display compared to the current 6.2-inch panel on the Galaxy S25 has been corroborated. A recent leak seemingly confirms as much, bringing the phone slightly more in line with the larger displays Samsung tends to offer on most of its phones, although it’ll still be small enough to use comfortably one-handed.

Meanwhile, the S26 Edge could get a 6.66-inch panel, and the S26 Ultra may feature a 6.89-inch display – if true, all three S26 phones would be slightly bigger than their predecessors.

To achieve this, the bezel on the S26 Ultra will supposedly be “no more than 1.2mm” – in other words, extremely slim. The top-end model will also apparently feature the third generation of Samsung’s anti-reflective glass.

Luke Baker / Foundry

One significant display development on the S26 Ultra could be the integration of Colour-filter-on-thin-film-encapsulation (CoE) technology into the S26 Ultra’s display.

This technology has the potential to make the display thinner, brighter, and more energy-efficient. It could be joined by “depolarizer” technology, which would supposedly reduce internal reflections.

The S26 Ultra display might also incorporate Samsung’s upcoming Flex Magic Pixel technology, which can control the viewing angles of each individual pixel on an AMOLED display. For example, this could seriously limit viewing angles when you’re using a banking app, ensuring that no one can see any sensitive information from over your shoulder.

Sources: Jukan via X | The Elec | Android Headlines | Android Headlines (2) | PhoneArt via X | GSMArena | SamMobile

Performance

It’s always been a bit of a guessing game when it comes to knowing which chipset Samsung is going to side with in its upcoming range of phones. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the company move back and forth between using its own Exynos chipsets and the more widely used flagship mobile processors from Snapdragon.

For the S26 range however, it now appears as if Samsung is going all in on the new Exynos 2600 across the entire range.

The latest leaks now suggest that Samsung has been so impressed with the performance of the Exynos 2600 that it is deciding use the SoC on the S26 Pro, S26 Edge and, more importantly, the flagship S26 Ultra. This might seem like a shocking decision until you see the supposed performance metrics of said chip.

Luke Baker / Foundry

Courtesy of X, leaker Jukanlosreve announced the shocking report that the Exynos 2600 has 6x the NPU performance of the already powerful A19 Pro chip (found in the iPhone 17 Pro Max), alongside 29% better GPU performance than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 which is the chipset that would have been picked for these phones otherwise.

It is worth mentioning however that there’s still a chance that the S26 range could feature Snapdragon’s latest processor but only in territories like the US, China and Japan. In the past, that regional split has always made for a point of contention as the Snapdragon-laden Galaxy phones have typically had a higher performance ceiling than their Exynos counterparts, but that narrative might finally change this time around, for once leaving the international crowd feeling jealous of what’s available in the UK and Europe.

Sources: Jukanlosreve on X (2) | The Bell (2) | The Financial News | Android Authority (2) | Android Headlines | PhoneArt via X (2) ET News | The Korea Herald

Cameras

There was a hope for some time that the main sensor on the Galaxy S26 Ultra would be getting a major upgrade, after word that Sony was working on a 1.1” sensor. If that sensor does make its way to a Samsung phone, it won’t be the Galaxy S26 Ultra as the latest leaks show it adhering to the same 200Mp 1/1.3” sensor as last year, although it’s not a complete like for like comparison. The S26 Ultra should be moving to a wider aperture of f/1.4, which should help a great deal more when it comes to low-light photography.

According to reports, the device will feature a 50Mp telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom but a larger aperture than the S25 Ultra, while the separate 3x telephoto will supposedly be upgraded from 10Mp to 12Mp. However, one leaker suggests that Samsung is still only using 10Mp of it, and it’s a smaller sensor than the S25 Ultra, amounting to a real-world downgrade.

Thanks to a comparison between the S26 Ultra and the upcoming Vivo X300 phone, we now know that the telescope lens on the former will feature a 1/2.55” sensor which, strangely enough, is lesser powered than the 1/1.4” CIS Isocell HPB sensor that Samsung Electronics has manufactured for that Vivo phone, which could put Samsung’s flagship device at a disadvantage by the time it hits store shelves.

Luke Baker

There are now rumours that Samsung is looking to take another page out of Apple’s playbook by revising the camera bump on the Galaxy S26 Ultra to be far more pronounced than it currently looks.

However, the front-facing camera might not be so impressive. The S26 Ultra could feature a UDC (Under Display Camera) on the front, eliminating the punch-hole selfie camera we see on the S25 Ultra, though it’s also possible that Samsung will hold off for a bit longer. The problem? Every under-display selfie lens currently on the market offers mediocre image quality at best, including Samsung’s own Galaxy Z Fold 6. We’d have to see a major upgrade to make it good enough for people who enjoy high-quality selfies.

Despite the fact that it carries the new ‘Pro’ moniker, and there were a handful of early rumours pointing towards a slightly updated main camera, it now seems as though the Galaxy S26 Pro won’t be much of an upgrade at all in the camera department. In fact, if the latest rumours are to be believed, it’ll be the exact same set-up as the Galaxy S25 which in turn was very similar to the S24, so anyone hoping for better photography features may want to look elsewhere.

Luke Baker / Foundry

When it comes to the S26 Edge, the big rumour suggests an upgraded 50Mp ultrawide, but we don’t know anything else about its potential camera specs. However, CAD renders suggest it’s sticking with two rear lenses.

Sources: PandaFlash on X | Ice Universe on Weibo | kro (Good bye) on X | Lanzuk on Naver | Galaxy Club | The Elec | WinFuture | Android Headlines (2) | Fixed focus digital via Weibo | PhoneArt via X (2) | GSMArena (2) | IceUniverse on X | ETNews | Erencan Yilmaz

Battery & Charging

Silicon-carbon battery technology is a potential contender for the S26 series, introducing the possibility of boosting battery capacities up to the 6000-7000mAh range. This technology also holds the promise of higher energy density, potentially leading to improved battery life and faster charging speeds.

It’s still possible that the S26 Ultra’s battery won’t be larger than 5500mAh, though, even if it makes the shift. It’s unclear if a silicon-carbon battery will be reserved for the Ultra or available on other Galaxy S26 models.

However, a subsequent report suggests Samsung is unconvinced by silicon-carbon batteries and will instead decide to shift to new ‘battery protection units’ and stainless steel housing for the Galaxy S26 series. These will supposedly be more space-efficient, allowing for a larger capacity within the same total area, but any potential gains are likely to be minor, with the charging speed on the Ultra likely to remain at 45W.

Luke Baker / Foundry

Multiple sources have now detailed that the Galaxy S26 Pro will have a larger 4300mAh battery. Given that the 4000mAh cell on the standard S25 was able to easily reach a day of use thanks to Samsung’s optimisations, having that extra room could make a big difference when it comes to day-to-day use of the Pro.

With regards to the Galaxy S26 Edge, the jury was out for quite some time as to whether or not the battery would leap from 3900mAh to 4600mAh, and now it seems as though those hopes were a bit too lofty for what Samsung has in mind, with the latest leaks now pointing towards a 4200mAh cell.

This has been corroborated by a more recent leak, which shows the S26 Edge as having a rated capacity of 4078mAh, which is then likely to be represented as 4200mAh nominal capacity in any marketing materials for the phone. In this instance, the rated capacity is meant to show the minimum amount of power stored under stress testing, whilst the nominal capacity is a more true-to-life figure for standard, everyday use.

While nowhere near as much of an upgrade as we were hoping, given what Samsung could achieve with the S25 on a smaller cell, we hope that there’s a good amount of optimisation to really push that 4200mAh battery to its limits.

Based on certification on China’s 3C platform, it looks like the S26 Edge will stick to 25W wired charging, and the new S26 Pro will match it. If true, that’d leave the S26 Ultra as the only model capable of 45W speeds.

According to a leak, the S26 Edge could be the first Samsung phone to have built-in Qi2 support, matching what Google has introduced on the Pixel 10 series. While the Galaxy S25 phones are ‘Qi2 Ready’, they require a case to get the proper experience. It’s unclear if this will be exclusive to the Edge or rolled out across the S26 lineup.

Sources: Ice Universe on Weibo | Jukanlosreve on X | The Financial News | PandaFlash on X | Android Authority (2) | The Elec | PhoneArt via X (2) (3) (4) | Erencan Yılmaz via X | GalaxyClub | GSMArena | Android Headlines (2) (3)

Software

The S26 series is almost certain to launch with Android 16 as its base operating system. Samsung’s One UI 8, which will be based on it, is likely to run on top.

More specifically, a report suggests the Galaxy S26 phones will debut One UI 8.5, though it’s unclear what extra features this will include compared to One UI 8 itself. This has now supposedly been confirmed via firmware on Samsung’s server.

Luke Baker / Foundry

However, one feature we are expecting is an increased choice of virtual assistants. On the Galaxy S25 series, you’re limited to either Google Gemini or Bixby, but Samsung is apparently “talking to multiple vendors” about the possibility of expanding this lineup. Perplexity AI would be the most obvious addition, but there are other possibilities.

And, if an APK teardown is to be believed, One UI 8.5 will include a new feature called either ‘Privacy Display’ or ‘Private Display’, which uses AI and the S26 Ultra’s new display technology to adjust the arrangement of the pixels in order to limit visibility for anyone not looking directly at the device.

It sounds similar to the privacy screen protectors that are widely available, but it remains to be seen how effective this will be.

While not rumoured anywhere, we’d expect Samsung to continue with its class-leading promise of seven years of both OS and security updates for all the Galaxy S26 phones.

Sources: Tarun Vats on X | SamMobile | Bloomberg Technology via YouTube | Android Authority