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We are hoping to see the Samsung Galaxy S26 in just over a month's time, and we can't wait to see what upgrades have been made to the base model, the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the S26 Edge (or Plus, depending on who you believe). But why wait until February 25th for the official launch when hopefully we already know everything?
We've been tracking Galaxy S26 rumors for months. While some early claims have been debunked by more substantial evidence, and some aren't all that interesting, there are some features we really hope to see on the final devices.
Bigger, brighter displays
Samsung's flagship phones have always performed well in the display department, but we could still see improvements all the same this year. By using Samsung Display's M14 OLED, Samsung Mobile should be able to give the new models a brightness and power efficiency boost. This is the same display that both Apple and Google use for their phones, so it would be great if Samsung could even the playing field.
As far as we know, the Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26 Ultra will retain the same 6.7-inch and 6.9-inch sizes as their predecessors. But we could see a slightly larger display for the base model, with a size of 6.3 inches tipped instead of the S25's 6.2 inches.
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If that wasn't enough display upgrades for you, then you'll be excited to hear about the Galaxy S26 UItra's unique "Magic Flex Pixel" upgrade. This is supposedly an on-device equivalent of those screen protectors you can buy that make the screen dark or impossible to view from the side.
What makes Samsung's version different, at least according to the tipsters, is that it works on a pixel level and seemingly doesn't impact image quality either. It sounds almost too good to be true, so this is perhaps the rumor on this list we're most excited to see in action, assuming the leak-o-sphere's giving us accurate information.
Faster wired charging
Samsung's been frustratingly slow to upgrade its phones' charging speeds, even while its rivals offer charging speeds that are nearly twice as fast. But this could be changing this year, albeit only for the Ultra.
Leaks have told us that 60W charging will come to the Ultra, which is a great start. Even if the speed isn't actually that much higher in reality, it's the kind of step we've been waiting years to see.
A stronger commitment to Qi2 wireless charging
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offered Qi2 wireless charging, but did not have any built-in magnets to take advantage of the standard's magnetic attachment system. You could buy a separate case, but it's nowhere near as convenient as the built-in magnetic charging of recent iPhones or the Google Pixel 10 series.
However, that could all change with this incoming generation of Galaxy S phones. Not only will some S26 models apparently support the faster 25W Qi2 charging mode, Samsung may add the magnetic alignment system to its first-party accessories for all S26 models, not just the Ultra. While it's not the full implementation some of us may want, it'll be good if Samsung makes it an option for all S26 owners.
Larger batteries
Just like its charging speeds, Samsung has taken its sweet time with upgrading the capacity of its flagship phones' batteries. In the Galaxy S Ultra's case, it's not had a battery upgrade since it came into existence six years ago.
Happily this year we may see that change. The leaks we've heard differ in how much they claim Samsung will up the battery capacity, but a bump up to at least 5,400 mAh seems to be on the cards, if not higher.
Samsung adopting silicon carbon materials for its batteries has been tipped also, following the lead of Chinese rivals like OnePlus and Honor. We are less certain of this one being true, but given the battery capacity and size benefits that silicon carbon offers, we really hope Samsung takes the plunge.
New camera parts
With cameras remaining one of the most crucial parts of a phone for buyers, we hope to see Samsung offer some meaningful improvements to the S26 series' photography prowess.
The top S26 model has been tipped for changes like a variable aperture, or at least a wider one, in its main camera for more versatile shooting, a higher-res 12MP 3x telephoto camera to replace the existing 10MP one, and possibly a 24MP default image resolution, to make better use of the 200MP main camera without stuffing the user's storage with unnecessarily large images. It's not clear if the standard or Plus models will get any of these, but we can only hope so - it's not fair for the most expensive model to get literally all the rumored changes.
Fresh chipsets
If you want an upgrade rumor you can take to the bank, it's the tip that the Galaxy S26 series will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with recent benchmark leaks seemingly confirming the chip's presence in at least the Plus and Ultra models. We're hoping that
There's also talk that the S26 series, at least on some models and in some territories, could use the in-house Exynos 2600 chipset. While users may prefer a Snapdragon chip due to their usual superior power and efficiency, the new Exynos should still bring improvements to the S26 series, going by the upgrades Samsung Semiconductor discussed during its announcement like better thermal performance, more efficient image processing and a beefier GPU.
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