Galaxy is strong, very in control of herself. There are clear signs that Samsung is very comfortable with the flagship troika, led by the hugely impressive Galaxy S26 Ultra, in terms of price, feature set and expected value proposition. The Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26+ are more comfortable with the theme of continuity, in contrast to the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s leaps forward with privacy display and camera optimizations. Horizon lock is being added for video recording, though. There’s nothing wrong with that, although it remains to be seen how potential buyers view the refinements but there’s no individual feature or functionality trump card on the price tag. ₹Rs 87,999 onwards ₹Starting from Rs 1,19,999. This also includes generational inflation.
While Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ users shouldn’t rush to upgrade to the Galaxy S26 and S26+, for anyone using the older generation, it’s still an important step. Even more so due to the optimization of the Samsung-spec Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, which has had a positive impact on performance as well as battery endurance, anyone spending that much money would expect nothing less. While the Galaxy S26 gets a slight display upgrade from 6.2-inch to 6.3-inch canvas, the resolution as well as brightness figures remain the same. The Galaxy S25 also now has a slightly larger battery, at 4,300 mAh compared to 4,000 mAh on its predecessor. The Galaxy S25+ brings faster wireless charging, new Bluetooth standards, and overall performance improvements.
The advantage of the Galaxy S26 in particular, with its 6.3-inch display, is that it is a very viable option for those who want a compact flagship Android phone. There are very few of these options than you might immediately imagine, and while there is an alternative to the Vivo X200 FE, Samsung’s offering is superior in every respect. If you’re used to the Galaxy S25’s 6.2-inch screen, the new display is noticeably taller and works better in many apps.
Apart from the change in size of the Galaxy S26 and continuity with the screen size and basic specifications of the Galaxy S26+, one wonders why Samsung did not add a privacy display to the latest flagship range, leaving the consumer’s final choice dependent on their preference for specs or display size. However, one can understand the intention to keep that feature exclusive to the Torchbearer Galaxy S26 Ultra, and I expect it to become a range-wide feature next year.
For some strange reason, taking a look at the listing pages of the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ on Samsung’s Indian website, there doesn’t seem to be many mentions of their own Exynos 2600 processor. I wonder why, because from experience with these phones, they are leaving no room for complaints with display stability, thermals are mostly well in check, and there are no inconsistencies with battery endurance either. The purpose of this article is to analyze the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+, not Samsung’s marketing and communications strategy, but I would much rather appreciate the efforts put in by the in-house teams to design the Exynos 2600. And not to promote public perception (which is mostly wrong).
The only possible cause for complaint about the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ is the camera hardware carryover from last year’s phones. Keep in mind, the image processing pipeline is completely new, but for these prices, it wouldn’t be at all unreasonable to expect an optical hardware upgrade or two. However, one must caution in saying that software based corrections in photography have their limits, and will be most visible in more complex lighting scenarios. However, for most users in normal point and shoot mode, daytime photos will be vivid and well-detailed, while low-light photos will be mostly usable in terms of detail and colors.
Samsung really needs to step up the game on cameras when it comes to the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ next year, given that Xiaomi’s 17 series and Vivo’s X300 series (and undoubtedly their successors too) have significantly moved the needle on the photography front. The addition of Horizontal Lock for video is definitely a step forward, and quite useful for keeping your video recordings perfectly oriented and aligned even if the phone swings around due to more than the usual hand shake or movement vibrations.
The reality with the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ is that these are not bad phones at all, and on the contrary, they have their advantages in terms of stability as well as refinement, which these two major companies fully benefit from. Both of these phones have a broad base of utility and reference, and for that reason alone, Samsung should be a little bolder with the successors to the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+. Generational pricing inflation will likely continue to weigh down the price, and Samsung may be reaching the very end of that elasticity with incremental updates rather than wholesale changes.
Still, the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ are reliable upgrades for those using models from a few generations ago or more. But it is surprising that a flagship portfolio does not have an essential feature or specification. This needs to be changed as soon as possible.