A leaked image from an admittedly questionable source might show the Galaxy S26 Ultra in an all-new colour – bright orange, in fact.
It might be that Samsung it going to follow Apple's lead from the iPhone 17 Pro with a "Cosmic Orange" phone.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to launch in January 2026 and there could be a surprise in stock – maybe one inspired by Apple. Could Samsung be able to jump on the orange phone bandwagon?
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 17, most of the attention was taken by the slim design of the iPhone Air. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max however, took on a new design (which some might say lacks the finesse of previous iPhones), while the new hero Cosmic Orange colour got people talking.
Now a leaked image shared by Android Authority appears to show three colours for the Galaxy S26 Ultra – a silver model, a sandy model that might be the titanium grey the company currently offers, and one in a nice bright orange.
It's worth noting that the source of the images isn't an established leaker, so there's very little to verify the authenticity of leak. We can't therefore be sure that it's genuine.
There are also reports from Redditors saying they don't want an iPhone copycat, but that might not be all there is to this story.
This orange colour has been enjoying something of a renaissance and it wouldn't be the first phone to come in the hue. Indeed, Samsung offered the Galaxy S24 Ultra in Titanium Orange as an online exclusive. While the closest bright orange phone could be the Moto Edge 50 Neo from 2024 in Pantone Poinciana.
But a big part of the re-emergence of orange as a tech colour seems to come from another source. When Apple launched the Apple Watch Ultra, it talked about the "international orange" colour of the button. Orange is something of a theme for its flagship Watch, with the original version also launching with an orange strap.
While that could be the start of a new orange journey for Apple (resulting in the latest iPhone), I felt with the launch of Apple Watch Ultra (in 2022) it was taking on Garmin, with the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro (2019) launching with an orange strap as standard too. Garmin in turn was aping dive watches where orange is a popular strap colour.
Whatever the source of the trend for orange tech, the colour seems to be having it’s moment, just as green has enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame recently too.
If this leak is legitimate, I’m expecting to see plenty more orange phones hitting the internet over the next couple of months.
