Where the reviewers agree
- Compact, lightweight design is a highlight, with a bright, sharp 120Hz display. — TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Tech Advisor, Android Central, The Guardian, Phonandroid, PC-Welt, Trusted Reviews
- Little has changed from the Galaxy S25, and the upgrades are mostly incremental. — The Verge, Tech Advisor, Wired, Android Central, CNET, Phonandroid, PC-Welt, Trusted Reviews
- The $100 price increase is hard to justify given the limited new hardware. — TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Wired, Android Central, CNET
- Camera hardware is largely unchanged, and the telephoto or main camera is weaker than rivals in some respects. — Tom's Guide, The Verge, Android Central, The Guardian
Where they disagree
- Battery life is praised as long-lasting by TechRadar, Tech Advisor and PC-Welt, while Tom's Guide and Trusted Reviews say it is shorter than predecessor or not the strongest in class. — TechRadar, Tech Advisor, PC-Welt, Tom's Guide, Trusted Reviews
- Tech Advisor and PC-Welt praise night photography, while The Guardian says the main camera is weak in low light. — Tech Advisor, PC-Welt, The Guardian
- AI features are seen as useful by Tom's Guide, CNET and The Guardian, but as buggy or unreliable by Tech Advisor and PC-Welt, and of little value to Trusted Reviews. — Tom's Guide, CNET, The Guardian, Tech Advisor, PC-Welt, Trusted Reviews
Bottom line: Suits buyers who want a compact, light flagship with a bright screen and long software support, and who can find it discounted. Main trade-offs are the higher price, unchanged cameras, slow charging and little upgrade over the S25.
Summarised with AI from the 11 reviews below — each one is linked in full.
What the reviewers said
TechRadar UK
4/5Aug 4, 2026A well-rounded, compact flagship with a great display and long battery life, but the price increase makes it worth buying only on sale.
- Long battery life, comfortably a full day
- Great-looking, bright 120Hz display
- Reliable camera setup
- Storage starts at 256GB
- Compact size with capable performance
- $100 price increase over the S25
- 25W wired charging is slow
- No internal magnets; full Qi2 needs a case
- Gets hot during intense tasks
- Side button layout is awkward for some users
Phonandroid FR
No scoreMay 23, 2026A compact, light, well-balanced flagship with a good overall experience, but incremental over the S25 and S24. Price has dropped since launch.
- Compact, light and thin for a flagship
- Excellent display calibration with delta E around 1.5
- Seven years of OS and security updates promised
- Good stereo speakers with clear highs
- Price has dropped below 700 euros
- Few changes compared with the Galaxy S25 and S24
- Exynos 2600 benchmarks trail Snapdragon versions
- Bass from speakers could be stronger
- Digital zoom noisy beyond 10x
- No Dolby Vision support
The Guardian UK
No scoreApr 30, 2026A compact, fast, lightweight flagship with long software support and useful AI, but its cameras have stagnated and trail rivals.
- Compact and lightweight at 167g
- Bright, smooth 6.3in display
- Fast performance from Exynos 2600
- Long software support until 2033
- Useful AI tools including call assist
- Main camera weak in low light
- Cameras bettered by similarly priced rivals
- Camera hardware barely changed since 2022
- Battery struggles with extended gaming
- No Qi2 magnet support
Samsung's most polished compact flagship yet, but with only incremental gains over the S25. Strong design, night photos and battery life, while software and AI feel immature.
- Slim, light aluminum design with IP68 rating
- Excellent night photography and good zoom
- Battery lasts almost three days
- Seven years of OS and security updates
- Bright 120Hz display with up to 2,600 nits
- AI editing features are unreliable and immature
- Software search results are confusing
- Slow charging at 25W wired, 15W wireless
- Only incremental improvements over the S25
- Expensive for what it offers; no charger included
Android Central US
3.5/5Apr 6, 2026A fast, solid phone with a bigger screen, but unchanged cameras, no Qi2 magnets and a higher price make it a tough sell.
- Larger 6.3-inch OLED screen with 120Hz refresh
- Bigger 4,300mAh battery
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers strong performance and stability
- Clean One UI 8.5 software with useful AI features
- Daytime camera color and dynamic range improved
- Camera hardware unchanged from Galaxy S22 series
- Telephoto camera is soft and limited
- No Qi2 magnets; slow 25W wired and 15W wireless charging
- Missing mmWave 5G, UWB and Bluetooth 6
- Price up $100 over Galaxy S25 at launch
Tech Advisor UK
4/5Mar 31, 2026A refined, well-built compact flagship with excellent night photography and long software support, but held back by unpolished AI features, modest charging, and little change from the S25.
- Stunning compact, lightweight design
- Impressive night photography and colour handling
- Bright 120Hz display
- Decent battery life, nearly three days
- Seven years of OS and security updates
- Buggy software and unreliable AI editing
- Slow charging speeds, 25W wired
- No magnets for wireless charging without case
- Little upgrade over the Galaxy S25
- Close-up detail capture is weak
Dependable flagship with strong performance and screens, but few new features and a price increase make it unexciting.
- Great performance from Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- Bright, colorful, and sharp screens
- Reliable triple-camera system
- Good battery life
- Long software support
- Not much new compared to last year
- Still no native Qi2 magnets
- Price increased by $100
- Lacks millimeter-wave 5G support on the S26
- Privacy Display limited to Ultra model
Tom's Guide US
4/5Mar 14, 2026A capable, lightweight flagship with strong display, gaming and new AI features, but the $100 price increase makes it a tough sell against rivals.
- Horizon Lock keeps video impressively level
- Larger and much brighter 6.3-inch display
- Excellent gaming performance with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- Helpful new Agentic AI features like Now Nudge
- Compact, lightweight design despite larger screen
- $100 price increase to $899
- Battery life shorter than predecessor in testing
- Largely unchanged camera performance
- Horizon Lock tops out at QHD resolution
Trusted Reviews UK
4/5Mar 12, 2026A slim, light flagship with a great display and strong performance, but only modest upgrades over the S25. The S25 is often the better buy if discounted.
- Bright, vibrant 120Hz display with high peak brightness
- Fast, responsive performance with strong benchmarks
- Compact, thin and lightweight design
- Seven years of OS upgrades promised
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- Cameras solid but not outstanding for the price
- Battery life not the strongest in its class
- Little change from the Galaxy S25
- Wobbly when placed on its back
- AI features add little practical value for the reviewer
CNET US
8.3/10Mar 11, 2026A capable phone with good cameras and fun AI features, but a $100 price hike and mostly software-only upgrades make it harder to recommend.
- Good cameras with strong photo quality
- Clean, modern phone design
- Fun and useful AI editing and video features
- Horizontal Lock video stabilization works impressively well
- IP68 dust and water resistance
- $100 price increase not justified by extra storage
- 25W wired charging is slow compared to rivals
- Nearly all upgrades are software, not hardware
- Base charging speed unchanged for six years
The Verge US
7/10Mar 11, 2026Samsung's S26 and S26 Plus are competent but nearly identical to last year's phones, with little reason to upgrade and higher prices.
- Relatively compact size for a modern flagship
- Bigger battery than last year's S25
- Seven years of software updates
- Horizontal lock video stabilization is impressive for action footage
- Basic camera hardware unchanged for several years
- Not much has changed from previous generations
- No Qi2 magnetic charging in the phone
- Higher price than last year's models
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.
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