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The Galaxy S26 series is official and currently available for pre-order, but until the official release, there’s one key question you need to ask yourself: should you buy the Galaxy S26? Well, the answer depends on what you’re looking for and the phone you’re upgrading from, so it’s not a simple “Yes” or “No.”
I’ve already spent some hands-on time with each of the phones, so here’s my first review and thoughts on the S26 series and why you should or shouldn’t buy them.
Why should you buy a Galaxy S26?
Here are the top five reasons why I think the Galaxy S26 series is worth buying:
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
The Snapdragon 8 Elite was already a powerful chipset and it got even more powerful with the Galaxy variant. However, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, launched last September, promises a 20% performance boost over its predecessor, including improved graphics and better CPU and GPU efficiency.
You can check with us Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comparisonespecially in single-core performance, showing how big a leap it is.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy Qualcomm and Samsung take this a step further as they collaborate on the chip to “optimize the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy for the latest Galaxy AI experiences.” So, not only will you get incredible performance in everyday tasks and gaming, but the chip should also deliver impressive AI performance on the device.
Privacy Screen
The Privacy Screen One of the most impressive new hardware features introduced with the Galaxy S26 series. The way it works is that it can hide the contents of your screen when viewed from the side, meaning you won’t have to worry about viewers seeing your spicy photos or messages. Think of it as a built-in privacy screen saver for your Samsung phone.
However, it’s actually more detailed than that, because unlike an always-on privacy screen saver, Privacy Screen is customizable. You can set it to only run when you open certain apps or receive notifications, so the rest of the screen is visible except for the notification itself.
This is because Privacy Screen works at the pixel level, giving you more control over how it works. The downside is that this feature is exclusive to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, meaning you’ll have to sign up for the top-of-the-line model.
AI for days
Thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, the Galaxy S26 series is more capable, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence. For example, Twins can perform tasks on your behalfsuch as online shopping or ordering an Uber, without doing much. And right before the process ends, it will ask you to confirm any purchases, so you can make sure everything is done correctly.
Now, Nudge is another example of how AI is becoming more active. similar Magic Cue on Pixel 10 seriesNudge can now reveal information based on the context of what you’re doing. If someone sends you a message asking for the address of an event you’re going to or photos you took during a trip to Australia, Now Nudge will open based on your calendar events with the address in question or a button that takes you directly to a collection of photos taken in Australia. This way, you don’t have to go digging around for information or photos; AI does it for you.
The Galaxy S26 series also comes with tons of new AI editing features, such as changing aspects of a photo, adding elements from one photo to another, and more. makes it easy to use generative artificial intelligence for Think of it as Samsung’s version Ask for pictures in the year Google Photos app makes photo editing more natural, especially if you don’t quite know how to fix or enhance it yourself.
More memory
The base S series phone has had 128GB of storage for years now. However, we are getting to a point where this is no longer enough for a flagship phone. Fortunately, Samsung heard our plea and increased the main memory on the Galaxy S26.
You now have 256GB of storage to start with, and that’s before any promotions. In fact, if you try Pre-order the Galaxy S26 seriesyou can probably get the base model at 512GB for the price you’d pay for the 256GB model.
Battery and charging improvements
Samsung has been remarkably cautious with its batteries and charging speeds, meaning we haven’t seen the needle move much in recent years. However, that’s finally changing this year, as Samsung has increased both the battery size and charging speed in the Galaxy S26 series, but not all models have received the same upgrades.
For example, the Galaxy S26 went from 4,000 mAh to 4,300 mAh. Galaxy S25but without any change in charging speed. The Galaxy S26 Plus has increased the wireless charging speed from 15W to 20W, but the battery capacity and wired charging remain the same.
Finally, the Galaxy S26 Ultra received the most changes, with wireless charging speed up from 45W to 60W, which Samsung says should charge the phone’s 5,000mAh battery to 75% in just 30 minutes. Additionally, the S26 Ultra now supports Qi2 wireless charging speeds of up to 25W, which is a pretty significant jump from 15W.
However, you’ll still need a case to take advantage of Qi2 magnetic charging.
Who should buy the Galaxy S26?
If you’re someone who doesn’t upgrade often and own a model that’s at least two or three years old, the Galaxy S26 is a good buy. Privacy Screen is already an attractive feature for those who want to keep more of their privacy.
The chipset upgrade is also a good reason, and if you want the latest AI features and software capabilities, these are the phones for you. Plus, the promise of extended software updates means you’ll be set for up to seven years of owning these phones, given that the chipset and battery can last that long.
Why you shouldn’t buy a Galaxy S26?
Of course, depending on your needs, there are several reasons why you might want to think twice about buying the Galaxy S26 series:
The price is increasing
The Galaxy S26 series comes with a lot of improvements, but that means they’ll also come with some price hikes. Samsung has managed to keep prices relatively the same since the Galaxy S21 series, with only the S24 Ultra getting a price hike. As it is the basic and Plus that get the price increase.
Both models now cost $100 more than their predecessors. That means the base starts at $899, while the Plus starts at $1,099. Is it worth it to you? Does this move you away from the Galaxy S26 series, or perhaps closer to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as the gap between it and the Plus has narrowed?
Cameras are largely unchanged
Unfortunately, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the only model to receive any noticeable changes to the cameras. The 200-megapixel main camera and 50-megapixel telephoto camera both have wider apertures, which means they’re better at handling low-light situations. However, the rest of the camera specs are largely unchanged.
This also applies to the base and Plus models, which don’t accept the same aperture changes (or any sensor changes) as the Ultra, so you won’t benefit from better low-light video or photography. It’s almost not worth the price hike.
On the plus side, Samsung says images should improve as it switches from a hardware-based ISP to an AI-based one. In addition, it also applied AI ISP to the selfie camera, which means that the selfie quality should be improved. Let’s hope it’s enough.
Not the battery upgrades we were hoping for
While we’re happy to see any improvements in battery capacity and/or charging speed on Samsung phones, Samsung still feels like it’s lagging behind. The Galaxy S26 Ultra retains a 5,000 mAh battery, while flagships from Chinese OEMs have more than 6,000 mAh and go up to 9,000 mAh or more.
Samsung’s reluctance to use silicon-carbon batteries It’s becoming more apparent as consumers demand longer battery life in their smartphones. The same goes for charging speeds, with Samsung still lagging behind Motorola, which offers 68W charging. Razr Ultra 2025 and 90W charging Motorola Signature.
Who shouldn’t buy a Galaxy S26?
If you have a new Samsung flagship like Galaxy S25 and S24 or even a Pixel 10Unless you really want the Privacy Screen, I see little reason to upgrade to the S26 series. Also, if you don’t care about having all the latest AI features, the Galaxy S26 series probably isn’t worth the splurge, especially given the recent price hikes for the base and Plus models.
If you’re looking for a phone with great cameras, long battery life, and fast charging, this is it there are many options From companies other than Samsung, appleand Google.
