If you’re asked to describe the Samsung Galaxy S26 series just launched today, one phrase that comes to mind might be “same same but different”, when compared to last year’s flagship models.
Indeed, hold up the three new phones this year – the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra in S, M and L sizes – and you might be mistaken for thinking they are from 2025.
Among the new phones, the largest Galaxy S26 Ultra sports a 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED screen and weighs 214g. That’s just a few grams shaved off last year’s top-end model.
The smaller 190g Galaxy S26+ comes with a 6.7-inch QHD+ screen while the entry-level 167g Galaxy S26 only has a 6.3-inch FHD+ screen. Both are AMOLED displays that offer great contrast and colours.
Given the small changes, the smooth satin finish, rounded corners and elongated camera array in the rear are reminiscent of a year-old design.
Look more carefully and you may find a slightly raised design surrounding the cameras at the back, which is not there on the Galaxy S25. The newer design does seem to align with Samsung foldable phones, though I find it adding to the bulk.
What’s more important are under the cover. If the AI pitch hasn’t already made you a convert, Samsung is throwing no fewer than four AI tools in the new Galaxy S26.
You get Galaxy AI, which has some of the snazzy photo tools that let you edit out a noisy background or an extra person you wish to remove from a picture.
There is also Samsung’s good old Bixby, which surprisingly, is still sticking around. This time, it’s for the lesser chores of letting you access phone settings via natural language. Want to change a background image? Talk to the phone.
Besides Samsung’s own AI tools, Google Gemini is also embedded in the phone. This lets circle anything on the screen to search and do perhaps more complex things like book a cab in the future.
Notably, Samsung is also throwing in Perplexity AI to carry out what should be similar seamless tasks in the new phones – well, at least for South Korea and the United States, for a start.
It promises to let you speak to the phone to carry out tasks across, say, your calendar and gallery with the tight integration.
Could these AI features help sell the Galaxy S26? It’s hard to say – Microsoft Copilot+ has bombed on the PC so far – but phones have a better chance because they are deeply personal devices and AI could lend a hand in many everyday chores.
For example, it could proactively find an image from the gallery if a friend messages you for details, say, of the bottle of wine you are bringing over for dinner.
What about hardware? Here, Samsung has souped up the top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra but left some of the new features out of the cheaper models.
One much-hyped feature is the new privacy display. Only on the Ultra model, it lets you keep prying eyes from peeping at your screen from the side when you are stuck in a busy train or long elevator ride.
The good thing is that you can specify which parts of the screen to block off. An easy on/off control also lets you quickly switch between private and normal displays.
This is one of those handy everyday features you’d wish is in all the new Galaxy S26 phones. Unfortunately, Samsung has only placed it in the most expensive model.
The same can be said of a modest camera upgrade. The Galaxy S26 Ultra still sports a 200-megapixel wide-angle main camera but this now has a wider aperture of f1.4. The 50-megapixel telephoto camera also has an improved f2.9 aperture.
These changes mean the phone can capture more light for better images, especially in low-light situations. We’ll have more when we test out the phones.
Another important change is in the processors. Again, the Galaxy S26 Ultra stands out this year as the only one with a Qualcomm chip – a customised version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
It should offer blazing fast performance and make short work of today’s apps and AI tasks. Even games should not be an issue, when run on the latest and greatest mobile processor.
The Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+, however, will come with Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chip, which should be no slouch but it isn’t the best that money can buy. Last year, all three Galaxy S25 models sported a top-end Qualcomm chip.
The additional features (besides a larger screen) might make the top-end model this year more attractive. If you’re going to spend so much anyway…
How much? The Galaxy S26 Ultra is available for pre-orders in Singapore now. It costs from S$1,828 for a model with 12GB memory and 256GB storage. Max things out and you get a 16GB/1TB combo that goes for a hefty S$2,578.
If you prefer a smaller phone in your hand, then the Galaxy S26+ comes with 12GB memory and provides either 256GB storage (S$1,628) and 512GB storage (S$1,928).
Finally, the most basic of the Galaxy S26 series will pack in 12GB of memory and cost S$1,438 for the basic model with 256GB storage and S$1,738 for one with 512GB.
