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We've officially entered the time of year where the smartphone world shifts its gaze to Samsung. The Galaxy series of smartphones typically launches in the first quarter, and this year the company is prepping to launch the Galaxy S26 series. We're excited to see what the company brings to the table.
A new leak from Ice Universe outlines the Samsung Galaxy S26 series release timeline for South Korea, which could help us narrow the launch window for the U.S., U.K., and the rest of the world. While not always perfectly aligned, Samsung typically launches its phones in the West with a similar timeline to its launches in Korea.
Galaxy X26 series release date rumor
Samsung Galaxy S26 Series Timeline (South Korea)Unpacked Event: February 25Pre-order period: February 26 to March 4Pre-sale period: March 5 to March 10Market launch date: March 11January 21, 2026
According to Ice Universe, who has a very solid track record with smartphone rumors and news, the Unpacked Event will happen on February 25. From there, Samsung will apparently have a pre-sale period from February 26 to March 4, with official pre-orders running from March 5 to March 10. Finally, the S26 series will reportedly hit the market on March 11.
It's not clear what the difference is between pre-sale and pre-orders, as Ice Universe didn't elaborate when asked by other X posters. I assume pre-sale is a time for buyers to register interest in the phone (perhaps for a bonus accessory or extra trade-in), and the pre-order period is when shoppers can actually spend money to lock in an S26-series phone.
Again, those dates are reportedly for Korea (though the Unpacked event will presumably be global, as Samsung doesn't typically host separate events for different parts of the world).
Samsung Galaxy S26 — the story so far
As we get closer to the Galaxy S26 release, rumors are starting to surface. Just the other day, we saw a barrage of rumors about the S26 Ultra, including colors, Qi2 charging, its privacy display and more.
Regarding the privacy display, we've even heard reports that it could be "the killer of screen protector manufacturers."
We even saw leaked photos of the S26 Ultra surface, which gives us a good idea of its visual appearance. The images show off the back of the phone in a silver/white color, and it looks great.
Overall, it seems Samsung is well-positioned to be one of the best smartphones, which isn't surprising, as we've reached a point where most changes are iterative rather than game-changing. That could change with the S26, but the sum of the rumors suggests Samsung is making intelligent, albeit small, changes.
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