Is the gap between $899 for S26 and $799 for S25 justified?

The roughly $150 price gap is not justifiable. The S26 offers a larger battery, slightly faster charging, a better selfie camera, and new software features — but the day-to-day experience is nearly identical.

Is the main camera improvement noticeable in everyday use?

The Galaxy S26 camera is not identical to the Galaxy S25, but the two are very evenly matched in standard daylight photography. The only noticeable differences appear in the 30x zoom and low-light conditions.

Why does S26 have better battery despite similar specs?

It could be the Exynos, but it could also be the newer One UI software. Newer processors are typically more power-efficient, which reflects on battery life even with the same capacity.

Is S26 worth upgrading from S24?

Yes — more convincingly than from S25. The gap between S24 and S26 is larger than between S25 and S26. You'll notice clear improvements in performance, battery life, and selfie quality.

What are the main things S26 offers over S25?

A larger battery (4,300 vs 4,000mAh), a sharper and wider selfie camera, a newer more efficient processor, Horizon Lock for video recording, One UI 8.5 out of the box, and 256GB as the minimum storage option.

Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S25 — Full Comparison Review: Bigger Battery, Better Selfie Camera, But S25 Remains Better Value

Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S25 — Full Comparative Review

The newer Galaxy S26 is nominally better than the Galaxy S25 but only in some aspects. The new model is faster to charge, has better battery life and offers a modest increase in raw performance. But the display, camera hardware, and design are practically the same. It's more of a refresh, not a generational upgrade. Hence, the roughly €150/$150 price gap is not justifiable.

Design — One Annoying Change

The only small distinction is that the newer S26 has a whole camera island that protrudes and causes the phone to wobble on a flat surface. The S25 has a somewhat cleaner design.

Display — Literally the Same Panel

There are no surprises in the display department this year either. The two handsets share the same LTPO OLED panel offering a 120Hz refresh rate with granular control and almost 1,400 nits maximum brightness. The 0.1-inch size increase can easily go unnoticed.

Performance — The Only New Chip

The S26 comes with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the US, China, and Japan, and Exynos 2600 elsewhere — a meaningful efficiency and sustained performance improvement.

Battery — Improvement Despite Oddities

The newer Galaxy S26 gets a modest increase in battery capacity over last year's model, which partially explains the uptick in endurance. There could be some additional software and hardware optimizations involved as well — but regardless of the reason, the S26 is the one with longer battery life.

Battery goes from 4,000mAh on the S25 to 4,300mAh on the S26.

Camera — Dark Inconsistency

In the dark, there are some more notable differences. The S26 has an edge in sharpness on the ultrawide, while the S25 is meaningfully better at 3x. The main cameras are broadly comparable.

Selfie — The Most Noticeable Real Improvement

Last year's Galaxy had a great selfie camera, but the one on the S26 is even better — one of the few notable changes to the 2026 model. We're getting sharper images on the S26 and the wider coverage now (23mm vs 25/26mm lens) makes the new camera even more versatile.

Video — Two New Features

Not a lot has changed in the video recording department — the S26 will give you Horizon Lock stabilization and LUTs for real-time preview in Log recording. Other than that, both phones offer identical video recording capabilities.

One UI 8.5 Software

The S26 ships with One UI 8.5 out of the box featuring new AI tools: more personalized Now Brief, Now Nudge proactive suggestions, AI document scanner, and call screening.

The Verdict

The Galaxy S25 just feels like the more sensible pick between the two, offering a near-identical user experience for less money.