February usually means new Galaxy telephones, and that custom continues like clockwork with Samsung’s just-revealed Galaxy S26 lineup. While the Galaxy S26, S26+ and 26 Ultra all appear much like final 12 months’s fashions on paper, they’re additionally shaping as much as be the perfect jumping-on level but for folk trying to be part of Team Samsung. They also have a few noteworthy enhancements over what have been among the best smartphones of 2025.
Samsung additionally took the wraps off the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, which look to tackle titans just like the AirPods Pro 3 and Sony WF-1000XM6 with daring designs and the promise of hi-res sound and adaptive noise cancellation.
All of Samsung’s new gear is up for preorder now with a release date of March 11, however must you put your money down? Here’s every thing it is advisable to know in regards to the firm’s newest smartphones and wi-fi earbuds.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 sports activities an even bigger display, a bigger battery and a variety of recent AI-powered options.
The center baby of Samsung’s smartphone sequence retains its wealthy quad HD display whereas having fun with the perks of a brand new processor and contemporary digicam options.
The standout cellphone in Samsung’s 2026 lineup, the Galaxy S26 Ultra sports activities a built-in privateness show and a variety of recent taking pictures options for its superior cameras.
The Galaxy Buds 4 promise enhancements to noise cancellation, adaptive audio and name high quality.
Samsung’s newest high-end buds look to tackle Apple and Sony with improved sound high quality, immersive noise cancellation and hands-free gesture controls.
I wouldn’t blame you for wanting on the Galaxy S26 vary of smartphones and considering they’re final 12 months’s fashions. Samsung’s new flagships stick with the identical smooth, easy design that’s gone comparatively unchanged over the previous few generations. The one noticeable distinction is a slight digicam bump that homes the S26’s three lenses, which used to drift on their very own on the 2025 mannequin. I do like the brand new Cobalt Violet shade (Samsung certain is aware of the way to do purple), which is offered alongside Sky Blue, black and white choices, in addition to the Samsung online-exclusive Silver Shadow and Pink Gold. The firm additionally will need to have been listening to my complaints from the previous few years as a result of the complete Galaxy S26 lineup is available in these vibrant colours — no extra boring, muted hues for the Ultra mannequin.
The base Galaxy S26 will get a slight show bump from 6.2 to six.3 inches, bringing it consistent with the Apple iPhone 17 and Google Pixel 10. That stated, Galaxy S26+ consumers proceed to get the superior display, with a 6.7 quad HD show that matches the S26 Ultra’s decision and trumps the common S26’s full HD. But the true story right here is the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which sports activities a built-in Privacy Display designed to maintain would-be eavesdroppers at bay. This is the sort of factor you usually have to purchase a third-party accent for, so we’re wanting ahead to seeing how Samsung’s answer holds up.
The customary Galaxy S26 does get a welcome battery capability bump from 4,000mAh to 4,300mAh, which ought to hopefully result in much more glorious battery life (final 12 months’s S25 fashions bought upwards of 28 hours on our exams). All three telephones pack the most recent Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, and we’re wanting to see if that interprets to any notable efficiency boosts over the super-snappy Galaxy S25 sequence.
Camera refinements and extra AI
The Galaxy S26 sequence’ digicam specs look much like final 12 months’s on paper, with the S26 and S26+ sporting a well-recognized trio: a 50-megapixel vast digicam, a 12-megapixel ultrawide digicam for zoomed-out panoramic pictures and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens for as much as 3x optical zoom.
Meanwhile, the S26 Ultra retains its highly effective 200-megapixel essential digicam, flanked by a 50-megapixel ultrawide and a 50M-megapixel/10M-megapixel twin telephoto digicam, now with the promise of higher “Nightography” video, steadier taking pictures and assist for the APV codec for video professionals. This setup led to stellar pictures in our Galaxy S25 Ultra testing — Samsung’s zoom distance typically beats the competitors — so we’re wanting ahead to seeing if the corporate’s software program refinements with the latest mannequin makes the expertise even higher.
Love it or hate it, you possibly can’t discuss a brand new Galaxy cellphone with out speaking about AI. A brand new function known as Now Nudge is designed to supply contextual ideas. For instance, if somebody, say, asks to see footage out of your current trip overseas, the S26 will use that info to mechanically discover the related images and recommend ones to ship. The Now Brief has been optimized to raised serve you well timed reminders and vital occasions, and Circle to Search with Google — one of many few AI instruments I really discover helpful — can now establish a number of objects without delay for when it is advisable to shortly search for one thing from a picture.
The Galaxy S26 and S26+ are each seeing a $100 worth bump to $900 and $1,100, respectively, which is sadly a pattern we’ve seen on a lot of prime electronics over the previous 12 months or so. We like that the usual S26 now begins with 256GB of storage, however it additionally implies that there’s now not a 128GB possibility for folk who need to save just a little money. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will maintain regular finally 12 months’s $1,300 beginning worth for these prepared to splurge on a premium cellphone.
The Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro look to tackle the titans
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 series proved a bit divisive; we liked their audio high quality, consolation and solid-enough noise cancellation however discovered that their battery life and AI-focused options left loads to be desired. The firm went again to the drafting board with the brand new Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro, which, no less than on paper, may very well be a official competitor to the most recent titans from Apple, Bose and Sony.
Both new Galaxy Buds sport a refined design, which considerably trim down the overly lengthy, OG AirPods-like stems from the earlier mannequin. And at round 5 grams per bud, they need to hopefully be as snug because the last-generation mannequin. They’ll be out there in your alternative of black or white, although the Pro mannequin are additionally offered in a Pink Gold possibility that’s unique to Samsung’s web site.
But what we’re actually inquisitive about is what’s packed inside. Samsung is promising some severely robust audio specs, together with the corporate’s “ultra-high-quality” sound and 24-bit audio assist for folk on trendy Samsung units just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy S25 and up. There’s additionally 360 Audio, which we’re keen to check towards related immersion choices from Apple, Bose and Sony. You can anticipate lively noise cancellation and ambient sound modes on each Buds 4 fashions, although solely the Buds 4 Pro have Adaptive EQ and Adaptive ANC 2.0, that are designed to optimize sound high quality and noise cancellation on the fly primarily based in your environment. The Pro mannequin additionally guarantees new Head Gesture controls, which is able to allow you to take and finish calls with a fast head nod à la the AirPods Pro.
As far as battery life goes, you possibly can anticipate as much as six hours of nonstop playback and 30 hours whole from the Buds 4 and a barely stronger seven hours of nonstop playback with the identical whole from the Buds 4 Pro. That appears a bit behind the competitors out of the gate (Apple guarantees guarantees eight hours of nonstop ANC playback and 10 hours with out for the AirPods Pro 3), although we’ll need to see how that every one stacks up in real-world testing.
This seems like an incremental improve 12 months for Samsung, as the corporate appears to be maintaining every thing that labored on final 12 months’s glorious Galaxy S25 sequence and merely fine-tuning in a couple of key areas. As such, the Galaxy S26 vary appears most ultimate for folk leaping into the Samsung world for the primary time or who’re upgrading from an getting older Galaxy S22 or older. Considering how a lot Google stepped up its recreation for the Pixel 10 sequence, we’re particularly eager to see if Samsung can take again the throne for the title of greatest Android cellphone.
The Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro even have a troublesome battle forward towards glorious competitors from Bose, Apple and Sony, however the promise of a refined design with improved sound and ANC has us intrigued. We’ll have rather more to say on Samsung’s new releases as soon as we put them by means of their paces for correct in-depth critiques, so keep tuned.
The Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra can be found for preorder now and will begin delivery on March 11. The telephones begin at $900, $1,100 and $1,300, respectively.
For the essential Galaxy S26, key variations embody an even bigger battery and a barely bigger 6.3-inch show. For the Ultra, you possibly can anticipate a brand new privateness display that wasn’t current on the Galaxy S25. The complete lineup is getting a sooner processor was nicely as a variety of recent AI options that’ll probably trickle right down to older fashions over time.
NCS Underscored has a staff of expert writers and editors who’ve a few years of expertise testing, researching and recommending merchandise, and we guarantee every article is rigorously edited and merchandise are correctly vetted. We discuss to prime specialists when relevant to make sure we’re testing every product precisely, recommending solely the perfect merchandise and contemplating the professionals and cons of every merchandise.
Senior tech editor Mike Andronico has been reviewing tech products for 13 years and has lined practically each main Samsung cellphone launch since then. He appears to be like ahead to taking totally too many images when he will get his palms on a Galaxy S26 for evaluate.