Samsung Galaxy S26 rumors point to a new camera and an earlier-than-expected launch — here's the details

A much-needed upgrade could be coming to one of the Samsung Galaxy S26's rear cameras, a new report claims. And even better, another source offers evidence that Samsung could launch its new flagship phones earlier than we had thought.

This is according to Smartprix, who used alleged leaked firmware for the new phones to check their camera IDs. This revealed that the basic S26 and S26 Plus will both get a combination of 50MP main sensors, 12MP ultrawide cameras, and 12MP telephoto cameras.

The biggest change of these is to the telephoto camera, which is getting a resolution bump from 10MP to 12MP. It's not known if the zoom level is changing, but we'd assume Samsung will stick with a 3x magnification. The main camera is apparently also getting a new sensor, but without a resolution increase.

In the same leaked firmware, Smartprix found apparent evidence that the Galaxy S26 will get a small battery capacity increase, going from the S25's 4,000 mAh to 4,300 mAh. The Galaxy S25 did well on our battery life test, making it onto our best phone battery life guide despite its below-average battery size. A capacity increase like this could be a great boon for one of the few remaining "small" flagship phones.

A January launch is back on the cards

Now let's get to that other rumor — that the Galaxy S26 may be revealed at the end of January, rather than in February as other rumors had suggested. The retail launch of the phones will be in February, however.

ChosunBiz, a Korean business paper, is the one making this claim. Quoting an inside source, the report claims that Samsung has managed to overcome the delay caused by the alleged discarding of the Galaxy S26 Edge from the launch line-up and the return of the Plus model. Therefore, the company could return to its habitual January launch window.

ChosunBiz's report also repeats claims about the Galaxy S26's chip distribution. We've heard Samsung could be using a mix of Exynos 2600 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chips in the new phones. The insider alleges that only the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use the Snapdragon chip, with the base and Plus models using Samsung's in-house Exynos silicon.

The exact mix seems to change with every new rumor we hear, something which happens every year when a Galaxy S series launch is incoming. Given the rumors keep contradicting each other, and the exact blend could differ between regions, we'll wait for more confident rumors before we start getting excited or worried about the S26 series' performance.

But with an apparently earlier launch than expected, and a new telephoto camera at long last, the Galaxy S26 has us looking forward to the new year already. Let us know if you feel the same!

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