Everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S26 (so far)

Samsung usually launches its next wave of flagship devices over the winter. The Galaxy S25 was released in early February, and the Galaxy S24 before it came in late January. Thus, it stands to reason that the Galaxy S26 will come around the same time in 2026. Despite being several months out for release, there are already a ton of rumors about Samsung’s upcoming flagship. Let’s take a look at them. 

To start, rumors say that Samsung is likely shaking up its lineup a little bit. According to a GSMA database listing (spotted by SammyPolice), it appears as though Samsung will end the Plus part of its lineup with the Galaxy S26 series of phones. That would leave the base Galaxy S26, the iPhone 17 Air competitor in the Galaxy S26 Edge, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra. 

It’s unclear if Samsung will keep its naming conventions the same with one phone going down, but there is a rumor that the base Galaxy S26 will be rebranded to a more iPhone-like S26 Pro, so we’ll refer to it as the S26 Pro in this article. As for the rest of the specs, here is every rumor that we could find. 

Display, design, and size

In terms of overall size, it appears Samsung isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel. A leak from Digital Chat Station on Weibo suggests that the overall dimensions of the Galaxy S26 Pro, S26 Ultra, and S26 Edge will be similar to their 2025 counterparts. The S26 Pro is rumored to sport a 6.27-inch screen, which is larger than the S25’s 6.2-inch display. There is no word yet on the screen size of the S26 Ultra or S26 Edge, but there have been some rumors that the design will be at least slightly different from prior years. 

There haven’t been any rumors yet about specs, but Samsung has used the same AMOLED 2X screen in its last two flagships, so we’ll see if any changes happen next year. The screen may have some neat tricks, though. A recent rumor from IceUniverse states that the S26 series will have a smart privacy mode that blocks people from seeing your screen at an angle. This may be powered by Samsung’s Flex Magic Pixel, which the brand showed off in early 2024. 

Specs

For specs, the rumors don’t say anything that isn’t already expected. The Galaxy S26 series is currently rumored to have the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chip, which Qualcomm rebranded to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 a couple of weeks ago. There is also a rumor that Samsung will equip some S26 models with an Exynos chip, which Samsung fans hope is the Exynos 2600, which has also been making some noise in the rumor mill over the last week.

In terms of the small stuff, like storage and RAM, there have been some small rumblings. One rumor says that the Galaxy S26 (all models) will feature 16GB of RAM, a 4GB increase from the last few years, and the most a Galaxy phone has had since the Galaxy S21 Ultra. In terms of storage capacity, there are no rumors that anything will change, so the 128GB base (256GB on the Ultra) is likely to remain in place for now, with upgraded storage available as an option. 

Battery and charging

Based on early rumors, this may be one of the most interesting changes coming to the S26 lineup. Samsung has been working on a stacked battery design that would allow for more dense batteries in the same physical space. This could bring a long-awaited bump to battery size. According to current rumors, the S26 Ultra is slated to come with a 5,500 mAh stacked battery, a 10 percent increase from the S25 Ultra. Samsung may be removing a camera to add even more battery capacity. The S26 Pro is rumored to come with a 4,200mAh cell, up from the 4,000mAh in the Galaxy S25. 

For charging, it’s unlikely that the Galaxy S26 series will get one. Samsung is definitely working on 60W wired charging, but so far, it seems that Samsung will wait for the Galaxy S27 series (or later) to implement it. This could change as we get closer to launch for the S26 series, but for now, it seems that 45W will be around for at least one more year. There are also rumors that wireless charging may see a bump to the Qi2 standard

Camera

The camera system in the Galaxy S26 series may change quite a bit, and there are a few different rumors that say different things. Jumping right in, one rumor says that the S26 series will have the same megapixel count but will feature a new, as-of-yet unannounced sensor from the same ISOCELL GN series as prior Samsung models. On the Galaxy S26 Ultra, a 200MP camera is rumored, as is a 324MP lens with a 50MP, 3x telephoto lens. It’s more likely that Samsung will do the 200MP with a new sensor, but all leaks are being considered right now. 

In addition, there are rumors that Samsung will bring back its variable aperture on the main shooter, which Samsung hasn’t included on its camera system since the Galaxy S10 series back in 2019. As previously mentioned, Samsung may be considering dropping the number of cameras to three instead of four, like on prior models, to make space for a larger battery. Other rumors about the camera include a dual periscope design that’ll magnify to 8x, but that is just speculation at this time.

Other features and hardware

Much of the rest of the Galaxy S26 lineup is predictable. It’ll come with the latest One UI out of the gate with the latest version of Android. That is no surprise, and we don’t need rumors to predict that one. The S26 series will likely get One UI 8.5, which is slated for a rather large redesign along with a host of new features, including the aforementioned privacy screen feature. According to rumor, the redesign emulates Apple’s Liquid Glass in some ways with transparent UI elements. 

The only other piece of hardware we haven’t talked about is the S-Pen. Samsung appears to be set to do something big with the S-Pen. The rumors speculate that the S-Pen is sticking around and will come with some upgrades. The new functionality may have something to do with how magnetic accessories work, and this seems to be linked to the aforementioned Qi2 wireless charging upgrade. 

Lots of potential for change

Samsung has caught a lot of flak over the last few years for using a lot of the same components year after year, like the camera sensor, display technology, battery size, and even design. Should the Galaxy S26 series rumors pan out, it seems Samsung is aiming for a sizable departure from its earlier flagship lineup with a new camera sensor, more battery, a slightly different design, and more. We’ll have to wait until early next year to see it for sure, but there’s enough here to get a little excited.