I track smartphone deals for a living and this Galaxy S26 Ultra deal is the one I've been waiting for

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the best phones you can buy right now. However, if it's $1,299 price tag has you hesitating, Best Buy is offering one of the best deals I've seen so far.

For a limited time, you can get the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra for $1,199 at Best Buy. (You'll need to activate your phone with AT&T or Verizon to get this discount). Plus, you'll get a free $100 Best Buy gift card. That's one of the best cell phone deals I've seen.

Purchase your Galaxy S26 Ultra via Best Buy and you'll get a free $100 Best Buy gift card. Additionally, if you opt to connect your phone to a carrier (Verizon or AT&T) during checkout, you'll save an extra $100 for a final price of $1,199. Note: Under "pricing options" choose the option that says "we'll help you connect this phone to Verizon or AT&T" to get the discounted price. The phone features a 6.9-inch 3120 x 1440 AMOLED display w/ 120Hz refresh, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. You also get a 200MP main (f/1.4), 50MP ultra wide (f/1.9), 10MP (f/2.4) telephoto w/3x optical zoom, and a 50MP (f/2.9) telephoto w/5x optical zoom. There's also a 12MP (f/2.2) front lens and 5,000 mAh battery, which is the largest battery of all the S26 phones. In our Galaxy S26 Ultra review, we said the Editor's Choice phone is super smart, sleek, and fast.

If you're shopping for a new Android phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra should be high on your list. It packs a truly innovative and useful Privacy Display along with promising features like Automated App Actions.

The former uses a combination of hardware and software to keep prying eyes from gawking at your screen. This tech blows away third-party privacy screen protectors you peel and stick onto your phone, because you can turn the feature on and off at will.

Meanwhile, Automated App Actions (available on the entire S26 lineup) lets you book an Uber, build a grocery cart in Instacart, or order meals in DoorDash via Gemini using just your voice. We were blown away when we tried Gemini's new task automation on our Galaxy S26.

On the hardware front, the Galaxy S26 features a 6.9-inch 3120 x 1440 AMOLED display w/ 120Hz refresh, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. You also get a 200MP main (f/1.4), 50MP ultra wide (f/1.9), 10MP (f/2.4) telephoto w/3x optical zoom, and a 50MP (f/2.9) telephoto w/5x optical zoom. On the front there's a 12MP (f/2.2) lens and you also get a 5,000 mAh battery.

Yes, it's expensive, but Samsung kept the price in line with its predecessor. Additionally, this Best Buy deal can put up to $200 back into your wallet.

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As deals editor-in-chief at Tom’s Guide, Louis is constantly looking for ways to avoid paying full price for the latest gadgets, appliances, and apparel. With over 10 years of deals-hunting experience, Louis price checks against multiple retailers and searches high and low for the best deals to bring readers. He's also always on the look out for the best coupon codes to use when shopping. A born-and-bred New Yorker, Louis is also an avid swimmer and marathoner. His work has appeared on Gizmodo, CNET, and Time Out New York.

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