Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could see the change we least wanted to see — a price increase

Galaxy S26 Ultra render leak — (Image credit: Evan Blass / Tom's Guide)

The Galaxy S26 Ultra should appear at Galaxy Unpacked this week, but we might be shutting our eyes when Samsung finally unveils the price.

That's because of a report from Korea's Chosun Biz, whose sources claim that pricing for the Galaxy S26 Ultra will see price increases across the board, at least in Korea.

An edited version of an alleged official render of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — Samsung's teaser image of what is expected to be the Galaxy S26 Ultra. (Image credit: Evan Blass)

The standard 256GB Galaxy S26 Ultra will cost 1,797,000 won according to the site's sources, which is about 6 percent higher than the basic 1,698,400 won price for the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

The most dramatic difference can be seen in the price of the 1TB Galaxy S25 Ultra (2,127,400 won) compared to the rumored price of the 1TB Galaxy S26 Ultra (2,545,400 won). It's a 418,000 won (approx. 20%) increase, which would be an especially high price increase given the one-year gap between these models. Granted, most users aren't going to want the 1TB storage option, but it's still an unpleasant thing to see.

A Galaxy S25 Ultra face down on a table — The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

This is all seemingly down to the limitations on RAM and storage chip production affecting the tech world right now, caused by the explosion in AI data center construction. This is something Samsung has itself acknowledged as a troubling development for the mobile device market.

In more positive news, Chosun Biz claims we could see last-minute changes to the middle 512GB model's pricing, slated to be about 11% more than last year's model (2,059,000 won vs. 1,841,900 won). We saw this last year, Chosun Biz says, with Samsung holding off on a price hike it had intended for the Galaxy S25 series to avoid a hit to sales numbers.

Do big upgrades justify a higher price?

We can hope that this pricing rumor only applies to Korean buyers. Especially since other rumors we've seen claim there will be no price hike. But we should still be prepared that this year's Galaxy S phones could be more expensive elsewhere too, including in the U.S. or U.K.

At least we kind of know what else to expect at Galaxy Unpacked, thanks to a series of detailed leaks.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra will apparently dazzle us with improved cameras, faster charging and a new privacy display, while the standard Galaxy S26 series will benefit from a size increase, and either new Snapdragon or Exynos chipsets. But it will be up to the user whether these upgrades are worth the potentially higher price we may also see this Wednesday, February 25th.

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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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