We’re about a week away from the official reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S26 range, and all the goodies it contains.
But it would be silly of us to pretend we don’t know what we’re getting at Galaxy Unpacked on February 25. Thanks to exhaustive leaks, we know most of what to expect, including the new Privacy Display that seems to be the biggest new addition this year.
But one thing that seems to have slipped under the radar is that the Galaxy S26, the often-forgotten member of the range, is rocking the biggest and best upgrades.
Will this year be the Galaxy S26’s time to shine? It’s about time it is.
The basic model gets all the best upgrades this year
It’s a bit of a meager year where Samsung’s hardware upgrades are concerned, but out of the S26 range, it’s the basic S26 that’s getting the best of the bunch.
It’s getting a small increase in size from 6.2-inches to 6.3-inches. That’s bad news for those who love small phones, but those people haven’t been eating well for the last decade anyway, so this will hardly sting. It’s good news for everyone else though.
That larger display means a slightly larger body, and Samsung has taken advantage of that by slotting in a larger battery.
It’s a significant upgrade from 4,000mAh to 4,300mAh, and while it’s not going to catapult the S26 into being a two-day smartphone, it’s still a welcome change.
It also shows that Samsung is learning the right lessons from the S25 Edge’s failure.
Also, welcome is the removal of the 128GB variant. As a flagship phone in 2026, 128GB really isn’t enough anymore, so everyone getting at least 256GB is a great change.
There are even rumors that it’ll get 25W wireless charging, which would signify Qi2 compatibility. This flies in the face of leaks that claim the new Samsung phones won’t get Qi2, but it would be a nice surprise if it did.
Still, none of this is confirmed until Samsung removes the wraps at the February Galaxy Unpacked, but the leaks and rumors insist that this is what we’ll be seeing.
And yes, these upgrades are still fair, but it’s more than the rest of the range is getting, and it sets the ground well for a potentially huge upgrade next year.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 hasn’t earned the ‘Pro’ moniker yet, but it’s closer
This year was supposed to be the year that Samsung changed the S-line by replacing two of the models.
Rumors persisted from the start until quite late in development that it was planning to replace the S26 Plus with the S26 Edge, and the S26 with the S26 Pro.
These plans were ultimately pulled, quite possibly because of the rather disappointing reception for the S25 Edge. That’s a real shame, because it’s possible the new name would have come with a radical new direction for a phone brand that’s become a little stagnant.
The smallest Galaxy S most certainly could do with a sexy new name. It’s been saddled for too long without a descriptor of its own, relegated to “basic,” “standard,” or “smallest.” None of these are really fair to what is a top-of-the-line flagship phone, and adding “Pro” would have fixed this.
This hasn’t happened this year, not in name, nor in action. The upgrades needed to justify a “Pro” name are, in my opinion, rather more drastic than what’s offered by this year’s S26 range.
However, it does put the line in a much better position to get some big number increases next year.
A bright spot in a disappointing year for the S-range
Let’s be real for a second: The Galaxy S26 may be getting the best upgrades of the S26 lineup this year, but it won’t supplant the S26 Ultra in popularity.
Samsung is still expecting the Ultra to outsell both other models put together, and it’s probably right to do so.
However, as a big fan of the bog-standard Galaxy S variant, it delights me to see it making strides in the right direction while the Plus and Ultra tread the same water.
These changes won’t supercharge the Galaxy S26 to bestseller status by any means, and it still has a long way to go before it can really justify a “Pro” label.
Having a 25-watt wired charging rate on a flagship phone is diabolical, for instance. But it’s important that a phone that once held the Samsung Mobile brand on its shoulders, like Atlas, gets a chance to be the star of the show.
If you want a Galaxy S26 Plus or S26 Ultra, you can buy last year’s device and get basically the same phone. But you can’t do that with the Galaxy S26, and that’s why it will be the standout Samsung Galaxy S device this year.
