With the big phone launches of 2025 all in the books, we're starting to turn our attention to the next major release — Samsung's Galaxy S26 flagship, which should arrive toward the start of the new year. And the fact that rumors about Samsung's next phones are already circulating only piques our interest further.
This year's Galaxy S25 launch produced a lot of praise — but mostly for Samsung's suite of AI tools. Truth be told, substantial hardware improvements to the lineup were few and far between, especially when compared to the new look of Apple's iPhone 17 Pro models and the brighter displays offered by Google's Pixel 10 models.
Will Samsung shake things up for the Galaxy S26? Current rumors point to some improvements over the current lineup, though we imagine more details will emerge between now and the 2026 launch date — whenever that may be. For now, let's focus on the top five Galaxy S26 rumors we've heard to date, zeroing in on Samsung's entry-level flagship model.
(Our Galaxy S26 Ultra hub has more info on the likely changes to Samsung's high-end phone, and we've also got a look at a potential Galaxy S26 Edge — if that phone is still part of Samsung's plans.)
A shake-up to the Galaxy S lineup — or maybe not
If I had to describe Samsung's 2026 flagship phone plans in a couple of words, I think I'd settle on "in flux." Initial rumors pointed to some big changes to what phones Samsung offered in the coming year, though lately, it sounds as if the phone maker is sticking with its usual formula.
For instance, we had heard talk that Samsung was mulling the introduction of a Galaxy S26 Pro — basically, a rebranded version of the standard Galaxy S model. Meanwhile, the Plus phone in the lineup looked set to be replaced by an updated Edge model.
Those plans look to be scrapped, according to the latest rumors. Reportedly, the Galaxy S25 Edge has not sold well, convincing Samsung to drop plans for a Galaxy S26 Edge. (Not everyone buys this report.) And whatever Samsung has planned for its entry-level flagship in 2026, the word is that the phone maker will stick to the old naming scheme. So goodbye, Galaxy S26 Pro, hello regular-old Galaxy S26.
Which chip are we getting?
In September, Qualcomm showed off its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 silicon, the next-generation of the system-on-chip that powers most of the top Android phones, up to and including Samsung's flagships.
There's a lot to like about the latest Snapdragon, not the least of which is its promised performance improvements, which I've seen first-hand when I benchmarked the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on a test device. But there are also improvements to the chipset's image signal processor, its modem and — above all — the NPU that can power many on-device AI capabilities.
Samsung is almost certain to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on some of the Galaxy S26 models. The question now is which ones and where they will be available.
Reports claim that the base Galaxy S26 models could miss out on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, as Samsung turns to its own Exynos 2600 chips for that particular phone. It's unclear from that report if that would apply to every S26 or just the ones that ship outside select markets — a strategy Samsung has used as recently as the Galaxy S24.
Personally, I don't care for the split-chip approach, as it means different experiences for people using the same phone. (Traditionally, Exynos chips lag a little behind comparable Snapdragon silicon when it comes to performance.) So this is definitely a rumor to keep an eye on as we get closer to the Galaxy S26 launch.
When is that launch exactly?
So about the Galaxy S26 launch - given Samsung's recent history, you'd expect the Galaxy Unpacked event introducing us to the new phones would happen sometime in January. That's when the S25 and S24 launch events were held, and 2023's Galaxy S23 debuted on February 1.
However, Samsung's pivot on which phones it actually plans to release may have pushed back the launch to later in the year, with one report claiming we won't be able to get our hands on the phones until March. The latest word on a release date has Samsung holding a Galaxy Unpacked event on February 25, which would almost certainly mean that the Galaxy S26 doesn't show up in stores until March.
Camera improvements
Apart from the annual Snapdragon-or-Exynos debate, we haven't talked too much about hardware improvements, so let's turn our attention to one of the bigger rumored changes for the Galaxy S26 — improvements to the camera setup.
Specifically, an early rumor tips the ultrawide lens on the entry-level camera to get a higher megapixel rating — 50MP instead of 12MP on the Galaxy S25. Not everyone's buying that claim, but if true, it would put the S26 on more even footing with the iPhone 17 and its twin 48MP rear cameras. Throw in the Galaxy S26's telephoto lens, and Samsung would seem to have regained its edge in the fight to offer the best camera phone for $799.
A less headline-grabbing change — though one that could boost camera performance — involves the main sensor. While it's expected to remain at the same 50MP megapixel rating as the S25's main camera, Samsung might use a larger sensor that can capture more light, improving the Galaxy S26's low-light photo performance.
Other Galaxy S26 improvements
Let's group the rest of the rumored Galaxy S26 changes into the kinds of year-over-year improvements you might expect for any flagship phone. On their own, they really wouldn't move the needle, but add them together and they could combine to form a very appealing device.
The Galaxy S25 offers a 6.2-inch display, and word is that Samsung's looking for ways to expand that to 6.3 inches. Again, that would match the screen size of the iPhone 17 and Pixel 10, even if it may not be that big a leap from what the current Galaxy flagship offers.
Some CAD renders have tipped the Galaxy S26 Ultra to be slightly thinner than its predecessor, and we're wondering if Samsung might let that feature trickle down ot its base model. Certainly, Samsung has shown an interest in developing thinner phones, even if they're not quite as slender as the Galaxy S25 Edge.
Finally, leakers anticipate a modest battery bump, with the size increasing to 4,300 mAh from the 4,200 mAh cell in the Galaxy S25. Samsung's current flagship phone used that battery and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset to deliver some of the best battery life we've seen from Samsung's entry-level flagship. Ideally, the Galaxy S26 would improve upon that mark — depending on which chipset Samsung turns to.
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