In our compound PhoneArena score, the Galaxy S26 scores on par with the last year’s model. The subtle improvements in performance are there, but charging speeds have remained the same, and Samsung has not integrated its flagship display technologies, such as the Gorilla Armor anti-reflective coating.
Table of Contents:
Galaxy S26 Specs
Let’s start with an overview of the Galaxy S26 specs:
|
|
| Samsung Galaxy S26 | Samsung Galaxy S25 |
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| 149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mm (~10 mm with camera bump) | 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2 mm (~8.45 mm with camera bump) |
| Weight | |
| 167.0 g | 162.0 g |
| Size | |
|---|---|
| 6.3-inch | 6.2-inch |
| Type | |
| Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz | Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz |
| System chip | |
|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SM8850-AC (3 nm) International version – Exynos 2600 |
Snapdragon 8 Elite SM8750-AB (3 nm) |
| Memory | |
| 12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB |
12GB (LPDDR5X)/128GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/256GB 12GB/512GB |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| 4300 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Charge speed | |
| Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W |
Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung GN3 Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56″ Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung GN3 Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56″ Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 12 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX564 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55″ Pixel size: 1.4 μm |
12 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX564 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55″ Pixel size: 1.4 μm |
| Third camera | |
| 10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung S5K3K1 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 67 mm Sensor size: 1/3.94″ Pixel size: 1 μm |
10 MP (Telephoto) Sensor name: Samsung S5K3K1 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 67 mm Sensor size: 1/3.94″ Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Front | |
| 12 MP (HDR) | 12 MP (HDR) |
Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Samsung Galaxy S25 specs comparison
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Galaxy S26 Design and Display
Small cosmetic changes only
The Galaxy S26 mostly keeps everything that makes it stand out in the small phone world. At 7.2mm thick and weighing just 167 grams, it’s much slimmer and lighter than the iPhone 17 Pro (8.8mm and 206 grams) and Pixel 10 Pro (8.6mm and 207 grams). That’s nearly 20% slimmer and 20% lighter, a massive difference.
One thing I noticed, though, is that because of that new, more raised camera island on the back, the S26 does not lay as flat as the S25, and wobbles a lot more when lying on a table.
I do miss the Camera Control and Action Button from iPhones, though, as the Galaxy only has the usual power and volume keys, but no other physical buttons.
In terms of build quality, it’s all the same with an aluminum frame and glass on the back and front. The frosted finish on the back is really good at hiding fingerprints and I love that.
The four official S26 colors | Image by Samsung
- Black
- White
- Sky Blue
- Cobalt Violet
- Silver Shadow (Online Exclusive)
- Pink Gold (Online Exclusive)
A simple unboxing experience | Image by PhoneArena
The S26 comes in a slim box, and there are no surprises with the unboxing experience. You get the usual user manuals, SIM tool and a USB-C cable, but there is no charging brick, screen protector or a case.
The S26 comes with a slightly bigger 6.3-inch screen, a subtle change that I do appreciate. The bezels remain quite small, but there’s been no reduction compared to the previous model.
We ran our usual lab tests and here are our findings:
The screen brightness hasn’t changed, and the S26 hits the same max brightness as the S25 at around 2,400 nits in a test with a 20% white image. Samsung claims up to 2,600 nits but that is tested against a tiny white spot.
My biggest disappointment about the Galaxy S26, however, has got to be the lack of Gorilla Armor. The anti-reflective technology we have seen on the past couple of Ultras still hasn’t arrived to the base Galaxy S26 model and that’s a disappointment considering its now higher price.
In terms of biometrics, there are no changes — the in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is quite fast and accurate on the Galaxy S26. Face recognition remains the typical image-based technology, so it’s not quite as secure as 3D systems like Face ID on iPhones.
Galaxy S26 Camera
More capable AI tools, but almost no hardware changes
No big camera changes | Image by PhoneArena
We have the familiar rear camera trio: a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide and a 10MP 3X telephoto snapper.
Main Camera
Samsung has tweaked the color science, opting for warmer tones across all cameras. The biggest fix is that photos no longer look underexposed as they often used to on the Galaxy S25.
In this low-light photo, the S26 is notably warmer and shadows are lifted up.
Ultra-wide
The ultra-wide camera captures brighter exposure and warmer colors, plus the fall off from bright objects like the sun is now controlled better.
The front camera is now just a bit wider, great news if you want to fit a group of friends in the shot (this used to be a challenge on previous Galaxies).
Video Quality
The major new video feature this year is Horizon Lock, a new video stabilization mode that looks straight out of an action camera. It will do what it says, keeping the horizon locked, even if you rotate the phone 180-degrees, basically holding it upside down.
That comes in handy for extreme action shots, or just for those times when you are trying to chase your dog to film that one cute sequence.
Galaxy S26 Performance & Benchmarks
Not all markets get a Snapdragon chip
A welcome boost in performance speeds | Image by PhoneArena
The usual Samsung processor split is back with the Galaxy S26. In the United States, users get the phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset under the hood, but in most global markets, the Galaxy S26 is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chip.
CPU Performance Benchmarks:
And as you can see, the jump in CPU performance is not as huge as we’ve seen when using the Snapdragon powered S26 Ultra. We see a modest 5% bump in single-core speeds and a 13% increase in multi-core speed, generation to generation.
GPU Performance
The big change this year is the jump to 256GB native storage. A flagship with 128GB of storage did not feel very adequate these days, so I’m glad Samsung has moved to greener pastures. The S26 uses UFS 4.0 type of storage, just as its predecessor.
Galaxy S26 Software
The Galaxy S26 runs on Samsung’s One UI 8.5 interface on top of Android 16. One UI feels like one of the most feature-rich skins available currently and in the past few years it has added plenty of new AI features in places like the phone app, notes, browser and gallery.
Samsung also promises seven years of major OS updates, which is one of the longest commitments in the industry.
One UI has a few new design tweaks like the ability to have vertical sliders for the brightness and volume selection in quick settings, but Samsung’s big effort is in AI. Here is what’s new on that front:
The Now Brief is also evolving slowly. You still get your personalized “morning brief” which is not just a list of your calendar events, but will occasionally use AI to flag travel delays and even give you weather-specific outfit suggestions. To me, this still feels like adding AI features for the sake of it.
There is also a new Creative Studio, a dedicated app just for your image creation prompts where you can create stickers, invitations or custom wallpapers.
Samsung has also updated the ProScaler AI upscaler that works in the background across the system. It uses the new NPU to sharpen low-res videos (like old YouTube clips) and games in real-time.
And it’s also nice that Samsung finally allows you to set Perplexity or Google Gemini as your primary system assistant, replacing Bixby entirely if you prefer (you should).
Finally, you now also have advanced Call Screening, so the AI doesn’t just transcribe calls. It will tell you what the caller is about (say it could be from a “Delivery driver” or “Potential spam”). Neat.
Galaxy S26 Battery
A nearly 10% battery increase, but no faster charging
The new 4,300 mAh battery, a jump from a 4,000 mAh battery size, is a nearly 7% improvement. Considering that the Plus and the Ultra have not scored any battery gains, that’s great news for the small Galaxy.
We ran our usual in-house battery tests on the Galaxy S26 and here are the results.
PhoneArena Battery Test Results:
As you can see, we get mixed results. Despite the larger battery, the Galaxy S26 actually scores lower on our lightest web browsing test, but in YouTube video streaming, it can last a full hour longer than the Galaxy S25.
Charging speeds are the one thing that hasn’t improved at all this year. We have 25W wired charging, meaning that the Galaxy S26 has got to be the slowest charging flagship phone of 2026.
Bigger battery, but charging speeds remain the same | Image by PhoneArena
Just as before, you have wireless charging support at 15W speeds, but sadly, there is still no MagSafe. If you want to snap your phone to a nifty magnetic charger you can still do that with a case, but the phone itself does not have the required magnets.
Galaxy S26 Audio Quality and Haptics
Smaller phones typically don’t pack a big punch when it comes to audio and the Galaxy S26 is… well, a small phone.
So sure, sound via the stereo loudspeakers isn’t as boomy as on bigger flagships, but it is still quite good and comparable to the Galaxy S25.
Haptics are also above average but not the greatest around either.
Should you buy it?
The Galaxy S26 is ligther and slimmer than most of its small phone rivals | Image by PhoneArena
The Galaxy S26 might not be a big upgrade, but it remains an easy recommendation.
There are only a small handful of great compact phones, and the two main rivals are neither as light nor as compact as the Galaxy. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro are both thicker phones with a more substantial weight.
The light weight, however, is a trade-off for a camera system that is not quite as powerful. The telephoto camera in particular feels much less capable than rivals. I also wish we had support for 45W fast charging and MagSafe, two conveniences that matter a lot in daily use. And if we have to pay more, I also expect at least some form of anti-reflective coating on the screen. The latter strangely remains a Galaxy Ultra exclusive.
On the plus side, Samsung continues improving One UI and making AI feel a bit more useful every year. The AI photo editing capabilities built right into the Gallery app are the best I’ve used, and the reliability of Samsung’s software is a big highlight.