bestsmartphone.com

Phones

Samsung Galaxy S26

Released March 2026 · Full specs on GSMArena

75

✓ Reviewers agree · spread ±2

Consensus of 4 reviews. How this is calculated.

Tom's Guide78
Tech Advisor77
TechRadar75
The Verge73
Each dot is one review, adjusted for how that publication usually scores; the line is our consensus. The closer the dots sit to the line, the more the reviewers agree.
display1001 source
design801 source
value601 source

Key specs

Released
March 2026
Launch price (US)
$899
Form factor
Standard
OS
Android
Display
6.3″
Main camera
50 MP
Telephoto lens
Yes
Battery
4,300 mAh
Wired charging
25 W
Chipset
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Base storage
256 GB
Weight
167 g
Water resistance
IP68
Software updates
7 years

What the reviewers said

TechRadar

4/5Aug 4, 2026

A well-rounded, capable flagship with a great display and long battery life, but the price increase makes it worth buying only when discounted.

  • Long battery life, often more than a full day
  • Great-looking, bright display with smooth 120Hz
  • Reliable camera setup
  • Storage starts at 256GB
  • Compact size with capable performance
  • $100 price increase over the S25
  • 25W wired charging is slow
  • Full Qi2 magnetic support requires a case
  • Gets warm during intense tasks
Read the full review at TechRadar →

Tech Advisor

4/5Mar 31, 2026

A refined but iterative compact flagship with strong hardware and camera, held back by unpolished AI features and slow charging.

  • Stunning compact design
  • Impressive cameras, especially night photography
  • Decent battery life, nearly three days
  • Long software support with seven years of updates
  • Bright, smooth 120Hz display
  • Software and AI bugs, many features unpolished
  • Slow charging speeds at 25W wired
  • Limited upgrades over Galaxy S25
  • No magnets built in for wireless charging
Read the full review at Tech Advisor →

Tom's Guide

4/5Mar 14, 2026

A capable, lightweight flagship with strong display, gaming, and AI features, but the $100 price increase makes it a tough sell against rivals.

  • Horizon Lock keeps video impressively level
  • Helpful new Agentic AI features like Now Nudge
  • Larger, much brighter 6.3-inch display
  • Excellent gaming performance with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
  • Compact, lightweight design similar to previous model
  • $100 price increase to $899
  • Battery life shorter than predecessor in testing
  • Camera performance largely unchanged from Galaxy S25
  • Horizon Lock tops out at QHD resolution
Read the full review at Tom's Guide →

The Verge

7/10Mar 11, 2026

Samsung's S26 and S26 Plus are familiar, minor refreshes with higher prices; little reason to upgrade from recent models.

  • Relatively compact size
  • Bigger battery than last year's model
  • Seven years of software updates
  • Horizontal lock video stabilization is impressive for action footage
  • Basic cameras for a flagship price
  • Not much has changed in several years
  • No Qi2 magnets in the phone
  • Bixby is unreliable at changing settings
Read the full review at The Verge →

Verdicts, pros and cons are short summaries in our words of each publisher's review; scores are as the publisher gave them. Specs are taken from the reviews' spec boxes — where they differ, we show the value most of them give; price is the US launch price of the base model. Read the originals for the full picture.