Samsung's S26 and S26+ offer familiar designs, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chips and new software features

Source: Engadget

Overview

Samsung unveiled its new S26 family at the Unpacked event. The S26 and S26+ are iterative updates to the lineup, sharing the rounded‑corner design of the S26 Ultra. They are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset in North America and Japan, while other regions will use Samsung’s Exynos 2600.

Design

• S26: 6.3‑inch AMOLED display, 4,300 mAh battery.
• S26+: 6.7‑inch AMOLED display, 4,900 mAh battery.

Both models are available in six colorways. In‑store colors include purple, blue, black, and white; silver and rose gold are online exclusives.

Camera

Both phones feature a triple‑camera system:

• 50 MP main sensor
• 12 MP ultra‑wide sensor
• 10 MP telephoto sensor with 3× optical zoom

Front‑facing camera: 12 MP.

New Software Enhancements

• Object Aware Engine – Improves portrait mode by rendering skin tones and hair textures more naturally.
• Super Steady (updated) – Maintains a 360° horizontal lock for smoother video, especially when filming moving subjects.
• Auto Framing – Uses machine learning to automatically tighten the frame while recording 4K or 8K video.

Software Features

Samsung expanded its AI suite:

• Now Brief – Pulls data from a broader range of apps to generate more comprehensive daily summaries.
• Auto Eraser – Works across streaming services such as Netflix, enhancing dialogue clarity in a wider variety of videos.

Specifications & Pricing

• Memory & Storage: 12 GB RAM, 256 GB storage (optional 512 GB variant).
• Pricing:
  • S26 – $899
  • S26+ – $1,099

Both models are $100 more expensive than their predecessors.

Availability

• Pre‑orders: Open today.
• General availability: Expected on March 11.

The North American and Japanese variants ship with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the same chipset that debuted with the OnePlus 15 in November 2025. The Exynos 2600, Samsung’s first 2 nm chipset, will be used in other markets.