2025 was a fine, if not classic, year for smartphones, with plenty of excellent handsets but not many that truly moved the needle with a new innovation or must-have feature.That’s becoming increasingly difficult to pull off year over year, but one Android manufacturer who will be hoping to do so early in 2026 is Samsung.The Korean tech giant usually launches its flagship Galaxy S series of smartphones in either January or February each year, and according to the latest rumours that won’t be changing.Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Read more: Forget your TV - Samsung is back with a much smarter new way to stream Read more: Five new Android phones you won't want to miss in 2026 Tech news, reviews and latest gadgets plus selected offers and competitions Subscribe Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you.
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Reputable leaker and serial Samsung sleuth Ice Universe posted on X on New Year’s Day saying: “...the Samsung Galaxy S26 series will be unveiled on February 25 in San Francisco, USA, and is expected to officially go on sale in early March.”If accurate, this is a little later than the S25 phones that were unveiled on January 22, 2025, and went on sale on February 7.As OnePlus elected to launch the OnePlus 15 in late 2025 rather than early this year as it often does, it leaves Samsung as the first major smartphone launch of 2026.Article continues below ADVERTISEMENTAccording to industry analyst Jukan, Samsung is set to surprise us and keep the Galaxy S26 series price the same as the S25.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT“Samsung Electronics has decided to keep the prices of its flagship smartphone lineup, the “Galaxy S26” series, unchanged when it launches in March this year,” Jukan posted on X.“The industry had previously expected a price hike to be unavoidable due to rising component costs and the weakening Korean won.However, Samsung made this decision on the grounds that it could lose market share to its biggest rival Apple and rapidly advancing Chinese manufacturers.”Samsung launch 'A Friend for Christmas' campaign Commenting on price, Jukan said “...the base Galaxy S26 model is expected to sell for $799, the S26 Plus for $999, and the S26 Ultra for $1,299.”They also indicated that this would see Samsung boost the base storage of the cheapest S26 to 256GB, which would be a welcome change.
Apple ditched the 128GB base iPhone, selling the cheapest $799/£799 iPhone 17 with 256GB for the first time.If this rumour is accurate, Samsung would be doing the same.In 2024 and 2025, the S24 and S25 respectively were announced at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked events held in San Jose, California.Ice Universe reckons the event will move back up the California coast to San Francisco this year.Leaks regarding the evolution of the S26 hint at incremental changes.
Renders leaked in December show a design very similar to the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, which were in turn hard to tell apart from the S24, S23 and debatably S22 phones from 2022.The S25 Ultra went for a slightly more rounded look, but lost Bluetooth support in the S Pen, something that irked hardcore Galaxy Ultra (previously Note) fans.The firm continues to charge £1,249 for the Ultra, a price that’s higher than those asked for the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, the phone’s closest rivals in the UK.If you want to decide whether or not one of the S26 phones will turn out to be your next Android upgrade, it seems as though you will have to wait until the end of February to make that decision.
