Samsung Galaxy S26 could receive a nasty price hike, but the S26 Ultra might be spared

An edited version of an alleged official render of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — (Image credit: Evan Blass)

There may be a price increase for most Samsung Galaxy S26 models, including the basic specs for all three versions of the phone, according to leaked details published by Dealabs and Winfuture's Roland Quandt.

The exact figures given by these two sources differ slightly, perhaps due to regional pricing differences within the Eurozone. The table below shows both, although the difference is only minor, as you'll see.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Row 0 - Cell 0	Min rumored S26 price (€, 256GB/512GB/1TB)	Max rumored S26 price (€, 256GB/512GB/1TB)	Av. Galaxy S25 starting price (€)
Base	999, 1,199 , N/A	-, -, -	899
Plus	1,249, 1,469, N/A	1,269, -, -	1149
Ultra	1,449, 1,669, 1,949	1,469, -, 1,969	1449, 1529, 1809

With the exception of the standard Galaxy S26 Ultra, it looks like every model and storage option will be getting more expensive. We see price increases like this every few smartphone generations, but this one feels particularly unpleasant since we know the likely cause — the shortage of RAM and storage chips caused by enormous global AI investment, a.k.a RAMageddon.

Can we believe these numbers?

These prices line up with other recent rumors, including an earlier one from Roland Quandt, although the source from that rumor suggested we might see a price drop for certain models. The new figures match a recent claim that the Galaxy S26 Ultra wouldn't see a price increase in Korea, but its higher storage versions would. Plus another that suggested that the S26 Ultra would avoid the price hike that the S26 and S26 Plus would receive.

Of course, we have to acknowledge that these are European prices, so the price increases may only be happening in Europe. That's obviously not good for the millions of potential customers there, but it perhaps means that the U.S. will be spared.

The one upside of the leak is that Samsung will apparently bring back its usual free storage upgrade promotion during the pre-order window. It effectively allows users to get one rung higher on the memory capacity ladder without paying any extra, so buying the S26 for $999 would get you 512GB of storage rather than the 256GB default, for example. However, we have heard that this deal could be skipping the U.S. this year, which would be unfortunate.

Galaxy Unpacked kicks off today at 10 a.m. PT/ 1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. UK, so it won't be long until we find out which rumors we've heard are true, and which are not. Check in with our Galaxy Unpacked live blog for the latest, including once the show begins.

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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.

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