What to expect in Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026


Prakhar holds the Galaxy S25 Ultra in front of an array of colorful lights.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra (pictured) was Samsung’s most powerful non-foldable phone. What’s in store for the Galaxy S26 Ultra in Samsung Unpacked?

Prakhar Khanna/CNET

It’s a strange year for Samsung: we’re already well into February, and there’s still no official word on when we’ll see them this year. Galaxy S26the company’s next flagship phone series. In previous years, the full collection would have been unveiled during CES, however Samsung It seems we’ll be happy to wait – and rumors suggest we may not see the Galaxy S26 launch until the end of February.

Samsung has not been quiet in 2026, as it launched Galaxy Z Tri-Fold For $2,899 in the US at the end of January. About a month later – February 25, so Rumors That’s right — the Galaxy S26 will be unveiled in San Francisco ahead of the biggest event of the year Smartphone The Mobile World Congress kicks off in Barcelona. This is late for Samsung, but still early enough in the year to pave the way for most of the other premium Android phones coming in 2026.

The risks are still high for the S26 phones. As the best-selling Android brand in the world, Samsung must offer enough new features to keep its high-end phones at the top of the charts, and The iPhone 17 series debuts several franchises That raised the bar. As generative AI becomes increasingly involved in other gadget categories, Samsung will have to find new and exclusive uses for the new technology that will continue to differentiate its phones amidst fierce competition at the premium level.

We expect the Galaxy S26 lineup to be identical to previous years’ lineup: the standard S26, the larger S26 Plus, and the high-end Galaxy S26 Ultra. While the rumors don’t point to any radical redesign, there will likely be some external hardware tweaks and updates, including the processor and cameras. Let’s dive into the details of everything we know about the Galaxy S26 series launch.

Galaxy S26 lineup overview

Samsung Galaxy S25

Samsung Galaxy S25.

James Martin/CNET

Galaxy S26

Despite early rumors of Robot body Suggesting that Samsung may abandon its basic phone for a higher-priced, higher-spec Pro version, the latest leaks confirm that Samsung will keep the standard Galaxy S26 model. We don’t expect too many changes to the model’s design, although it may see the return of the raised camera bump yet Galaxy S25 Keep them flush with the back cover. Other rumors suggest that it may get a slightly larger 6.3-inch display and a slimmer build. The Galaxy S25 has a 6.2-inch display for comparison.

Rumors vary on whether the phone’s cameras will be upgraded, with some suggesting it will get a 50MP ultra-wide camera, while others claim it will retain its predecessor’s 12MP camera. The phone is expected to work either Snapdragon 8 fifth generation Chipset in the United States, China or Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 Processor Elsewhere Otherwise, rumors suggest the S26 will have 12GB of RAM, a maximum of 512GB of storage, and a 4,300mAh battery, according to a leaker. @UniverseIce.

Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Edge

Galaxy S25 (left), next to S25 Plus (middle) and S25 Edge (right).

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Galaxy S26 Plus and S26 Edge

Samsung was also said to be discussing whether to replace its larger S26 Plus with the ultra-thin S26 Edge, but sales were said to be lower than last year. Galaxy S25 Edge It suggests the pendulum could swing the other way: we might get an S26 Plus this year 9to5Google suggests.

The Galaxy S26 Plus is expected to have a 6.7-inch display like its predecessor and will be 7.35 mm thick, but there will be no physical change. Like the other S26 phones, it’s expected to get a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the US and China or an Exynos 2600 elsewhere.

The S25 Edge was launched last year in May, so it’s entirely possible that we’ll see the S26 Edge launch later. If we did, the leaks would be reported by Robot body It’s suggested to be 5.5mm thick, which is 0.3mm thinner than its predecessor – and, incidentally, 0.1mm thinner than the previous version. iPhone Air. Speculation also suggested that it would have the same 6.7-inch display but with a larger 4,200 mAh battery.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNET

Galaxy S26 Ultra

Like other devices in the S26 series, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to feature the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor in the US and China, while Samsung will use its own Exynos 2600 chip in other markets. Other than that, rumors suggest the phone will come with 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, a 5,000mAh battery, and upgraded charging – up to 60W wired and 25W wireless. SamMobile I mentioned.

Another rumour PhoneArena It indicates that the phone will return to an aluminum frame from its titanium predecessors, like Apple did with iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds 3.

David Carnoy/CNET

New Galaxy headphones 4

Rumors suggest that Samsung will launch new Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro models alongside its phones. Product pictures posted Robot body Showcasing the redesign for both models, they both get what look like brushed metal strips on the outside of the legs, making them look somewhat less similar. Apple AirPods headphones from Galaxy headphones 3. As in previous generations, the regular Buds 4 appear to be made entirely of plastic, while the Pro models will have silicone eartips.

New AI features and Bixby updates

The latest Galaxy phones usually arrive with new AI features, and rumors suggest the Galaxy S26 series will be no exception. Samsung itself A new privacy shield has been mentioned coming to future phones (presumably the S26 series) that will obscure parts of the screen when viewed at an angle, or protect notifications or even entire apps from onlookers’ view. Leaks indicate that the artificial intelligence is doing the difficult job of selectively displaying images only to those who are looking directly at the phone. This is supposed to come to all S26 models, and the leaks haven’t suggested otherwise.

The S26 phones may be able to use generative AI to display images faster than before. Samsung’s partnership was with Nota AI Announce in November, which aims to improve on-device genetic AI. This means bringing EdgeFusion (a version of Stable Diffusion) to speed up the text-to-image conversion process by running it only on the Galaxy S26 phones (instead of running it partially or completely via the cloud). PhoneArena It is proposed to integrate Nota AI technology at the processor level.



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