Samsung Galaxy S26 Review: 6.3-inch Screen, Exynos 2600, and 4300mAh Battery — What's New and Is It Worth $899?

Samsung Galaxy S26 In for Review: What's New and Is It Worth the Price?

There was some speculation that Samsung would forgo making a compact S model in 2026, but thankfully that's not the case. The Galaxy S26 was officially announced at Galaxy Unpacked on February 25, 2026, with general availability beginning March 11, and the device has now entered full review at GSMArena. Here's a comprehensive summary of what we know.

Design: A Unified Family Look

Samsung unified the design language across the entire S26 lineup — the standard Galaxy S26 now looks like a mini S26 Ultra, sharing the same aesthetic and color options. The frame is Armor Aluminum with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and IP68 water and dust resistance.

At 167g and just 7.2mm thin, it's among the slimmest flagships in its class. Colors: Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, and White — with Silver Shadow and Pink Gold exclusive to the Samsung Store.

Display and Chipset

The screen grows to 6.3 inches from 6.2 inches on the S25. In North America, China, and Japan, the S26 runs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. In all other markets — including Europe and the Middle East — it ships with the brand-new Exynos 2600, a 2nm chip focused on AI acceleration that upgrades the small CPU cores to mid-level cores for improved efficiency.

Battery: The Real Upgrade

The battery grows to 4,300mAh from 4,000mAh — the most meaningful hardware improvement on the standard S26 this year. However, GSMArena notes disappointment at the continued absence of silicon-carbon battery technology, which has enabled Chinese competitors to pack 7,000mAh-class cells into similarly slim designs for two years now.

Cameras: Fourth Year Unchanged

For the fourth consecutive year, the S26 and S26 Plus carry the same camera hardware — same sensors, and the ultrawide still lacks autofocus. Improvements come from the new ISP and subtle processing changes, plus the new Horizon Lock feature that keeps the horizon stable even through a full 360-degree rotation.

AI and Software

The S26 launches with One UI 8.5 on Android 16, bringing Galaxy AI improvements including natural-language Photo Assist, contextual Now Nudge suggestions, personalized Now Brief alerts, and a more conversational Bixby. Seven years of major OS and security updates are guaranteed.

Price

The Galaxy S26 starts at $899.99 for 256GB — a $100 increase over the S25 — with base storage bumped from 128GB to 256GB.

Early Verdict

The S26 series positions itself as a do-it-all productivity machine: powerful, versatile, and dependable. It won't dominate a single category, but it won't embarrass itself in any either. The concern is ambition — this lineup once set the hardware benchmark; now Samsung is betting primarily on AI features to justify premium pricing, and that's a noticeable shift.