Smarter Samsung Galaxy S26 series revealed at Galaxy Unpacked 2026

Like clockwork, Samsung has revealed their latest Galaxy S26 series flagship phones at their Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in San Francisco. Consisting of the base Galaxy S26, the Galaxy S26+ and the top of the line Galaxy S26 Ultra, the new line-up hosts a number of key upgrades with the lion’s share of innovations integrated into the Galaxy S26 Ultra. 

While the new Galaxy S26 series may look somewhat similar at a glance to its predecessors the Galaxy S25 series, the new line-up features a distinctive pill-shaped rear camera housing, a flat display and backplate as well as rounded corners across the entire line-up, including the Galaxy S26 Ultra, unifying the design language. 

This contrasts with last year’s line-up, where each camera had a raised, separate ring, and the S25 and Plus models had rounder corners while the S25 Ultra featured steeper, squarer corners. Aesthetics aside, the new Galaxy S26 entire line-up retains an IP68 dust and water resistance rating with most of the key upgrades appearing under the hood. 

Unfortunately, contrary to rumours, the entire line-up lacks internal magnets to natively support MagSafe magnetised accessories which means that you’ll have to acquire a casing with MagSafe support to use it for wireless charging. On that note, Samsung has also introduced faster wireless charging speeds for the Plus and Ultra models which is an improvement over their usual conservative approach to charging speeds.

Other key upgrades this time around follow Samsung’s traditional playbook with improved Galaxy AI capabilities that offer more conversational, natural and smarter interactions, the ability to automate certain tasks as well as  tweaks to improve charging speeds and camera capabilities across the range. 

Universal across the range is the addition of an innovative looking Horizontal Lock video mode that uses the ultrawide angle camera and an accelerometer to ensure that the up to 4K@60fps video retains stable footage even when the phone is being rotated 360-degrees which makes it useful for filming unsteady movement like skiers, roller skaters and the like.

The Galaxy S26 series also now supports Advanced Professional Video (APV) Codec that offers 20% better efficiency than Apple’s ProRes and also supports LOG/HDR video formats. Editing photos and audio is even easier as well with Audio Eraser offering integrated support with third party apps that include YouTube, Netflix and Instagram. Samsung’s Creative Studio image editing is also better able to amend photos with prompts to restore, edit or fix objects in photos.

The biggest upgrade, especially for Malaysians, is the integration of built-in call screening from unknown numbers using Galaxy AI to prevent scammers from contacting you which sounds absolutely brilliant. 

Unlike last year where the entire Galaxy S25 line-up used the Snapdragon 8 Elite series chipset, Samsung has opted to use their own in-house  Exynos 2600, which is the world’s first chipset built on a 2nm process, for the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ in selected regions with the Galaxy S26 Ultra using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor that is clocked faster than the stock ‘non Galaxy models’ in competing phones for better performance. Other regions  including the United States, Japan and China will exclusively use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy for all three models.

In keeping with prior Galaxy S-series models, Samsung has committed to 7 years of security and OS updates which means that the phone will get updates all the way to Android 22 and be secure until 2031.

 Here’s how all 3 of the new models stack up.

Galaxy S26 series – Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+- what’s changed and what’s new

The Samsung Galaxy S26 is the base model of the series with its small dimensions making it especially appealing for those looking for a compact flagship phone with the key upgrades being a slightly bigger screen and larger battery. 

You get a 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen up front with FHD+ (1,140 x 2,533 pixels resolution) , a 1-120Hz refresh rate as well as 2,600 nits peak brightness protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The screen is slightly larger by 0.1 inches than its predecessor the Galaxy S25 while retaining similar resolution and screen size as well as the same Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for protection against nicks and scratches.

As mentioned earlier, the phone runs on either a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy CPU or on an Exynos 2600 processor depending on region running Android 16 and OneUI 8.5 with 12GB RAM and three storage options – 256GB and 512GB depending on region. Battery sizes are slightly larger than the S25, featuring a 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired and 15W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging versus the older model which maxed out with 4,000mAh with 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging.

On the imaging front, the new Galaxy S26 has a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with optical image stabilisation, a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle camera. The front has a single 12MP f/2.2 camera for selfies and video calls. This camera setup is similar to its predecessor 

In the case of the Samsung Galaxy S26+, you get a larger 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X QHD+ (3,120 x 1,440 pixels) resolution display that has a 1-120Hz refresh rate and a similar 2,600 nits peak brightness with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protecting it from nicks and scratches. These screen specifications are similar to the prior Galaxy S25+.

Like the smaller Galaxy S26, the S26+ also runs on an Exynos 2600 processor with 12GB RAM and either 256GB or 512GB storage as well as a similar front (12MP) and rear camera setup (50MP main, 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto). The S26+ also hosts a 4,900mAh battery with 45W wired and slightly faster 20W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. This is the same battery size as the prior Galaxy S25+ and same wired charging speed but has slightly improved wireless charging. 

Both the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ both also feature Samsung’s own toughened second generation Armor Aluminum alloy for the chassis which has improved resistance to drops and scratches. For available colourways, Samsung has stated that both models have White, Sky Blue, Cobalt, Violet and Black options as available colourways.

Samsung Galaxy S26 series – Galaxy S26 Ultra – Privacy screen, faster wireless charging and brighter cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is their heavy hitter for the line-up and is currently the lightest and slimmest Ultra flagship phone ever made. The phone is 7.9mm thin and weighs 214g while featuring third-generation Armor Aluminum 3 which is tougher than the material used in the Galaxy S26 and S26+. The older Galaxy S25 Ultra is both thicker at 8.2mm and heavier at 218g. 

Up front, you get a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with QHD+ (1,440 x 3,120 pixels) resolution, 1-120Hz refresh rate, 2,600 nits peak brightness paired with an anti-reflective coating for easier clarity in sunlight and protected by Corning Gorilla Armor 2 glass like its lesser siblings.

What takes the cake and is the most innovative feature on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is a privacy screen that combines both hardware and software so you can selectively make the whole screen only directly viewable from the front and peeping toms can’t see jack from the sides or rear.

This approaches sorcery when you’re able to selectively make some parts of the screen private like notifications while keeping the rest normal. Unfortunately, this technology relies in part on hardware and is exclusive to the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Powering the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset that is clocked faster than the standard models, either 12GB or 16GB RAM and your choice of 256GB, 512GB or 1TB storage. Samsung has also repositioned the thermal interface layer (TIM) to offer better thermal dispersion.

The phone also retains a 5,000mAh battery but now has faster 60W wired charging and even faster 25W wireless charging; its predecessor maxed out with just 45W wired and 15W wireless charging.

On the imaging front, Samsung has upgraded the rear camera array with brighter apertures to let in more light and offer better image quality for the main camera and one of the two telephoto cameras.

You get a 50MP f/1.7 ultrawide angle camera, a primary 200MP f/1.4 camera with OIS and a 0.7um aperture that is 47% brighter than the older model, a 50MP f/2.9  telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom that offers 37% brighter images and a 10MP f/2.4 telephoto with 3x optical zoom. Combined this allows for up to 8K@30fps video. The front 12MP f/2.2 selfie camera is otherwise similar to the S26 and Galaxy S26+.

Also retained is the S Pen stylus that lacks Bluetooth wireless Air Commands like its predecessor while retaining the same screen sensitivity and functionality. At Galaxy Unpack, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will come in Sky Blue, Black, White as well as Cobalt Violet. There will also be a Silver Shadow and Pink Gold finish as online exclusives. 

How much will the Galaxy S26 series cost?

Fresh off Galaxy Unpacked 2026, Samsung announced pricing details and preorders for Malaysia which enjoys a double storage upgrade programme and prices that start from RM5,199 for the Galaxy S26 512GB and up. You can check our indepth Galaxy S26 Malaysia pricing feature here. Global prices start from US$899 for the Galaxy S26, US$1,099 for the Galaxy S26+ and US$1,299 for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

To preoder, you can check out check out visit: https://www.samsung.com/my/offer/galaxy-s26-series/