Samsung is making a big mistake with the Galaxy S26 series

Yesterday, my Android Authority colleagues broke the news that Samsung might be shaking up the Galaxy series with the S26 next year. According to our sleuthing, the three product names for the upcoming phones will be Galaxy S26 Pro, Galaxy S26 Edge, and Galaxy S26 Ultra. And wow, do these tell a story or what?

All is well and good so far, but it’s the other two phones that have us scratching our heads. Me? I’m specifically wondering what on earth Samsung is thinking by skipping the Galaxy S Plus for an S Edge instead. That could be the biggest mistake of this new line-up.

It’s been 10 years since Samsung started making Plus versions of its Galaxy S phones. Over 10 generations, the Plus series has had some solid early wins (S8 Plus and S10 Plus), but it dwindled a bit and lost its purpose when the Ultra was introduced to the lineup. Forced to be good but not as good as the Ultra, the Plus had a bit of an identity crisis and some not-so-good moments (S20 Plus and S22 Plus), but slowly rose back to win our hearts again.

I still remember how good the Galaxy S24 Plus was. We gave it 9/10 in our review, and loved its excellent display, fast processor, versatile camera setup, and fantastic battery life. Putting aside the slower charging and lack of a long-range zoom lens compared to the Ultra, the Galaxy S24 Plus ticked all the boxes, so much so that my colleague C. Scott brown said you should buy the S24 Plus instead of the S24 Ultra. More than half of you agreed with him — a tall order for a less-powerful phone battling the hordes of Ultra / Note / S Pen fans. For me, this was the real crown of Samsung’s series, not the larger, thicker, unwieldy Ultra with an integrated S Pen that might not appeal or be essential to everyone.

Sadly, with the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung went back to the drawing board with the Plus and stripped it of its newfound purpose. The Galaxy S25 Plus is uninspired and lacks any significant upgrades compared to the S24 Plus. There’s almost no reason the S25 Plus should exist when the S24 Plus exists, and if Samsung is looking at those sales numbers and seeing little interest for the Plus phone this year, then perhaps it should look in the mirror and ask itself why.

It’s sad to say, but the Galaxy S Plus phone has the potential to be the best phone Samsung makes, barring an S Pen for note-taking fiends. Yet, because of artificial restrictions put in place to raise the Ultra, it often sits in this no-man’s land of premium-but-not-premium-enough. If you have the money, you’re buying the better phone, obviously, and the Plus loses each time in that battle.

I might understand why Samsung thinks the Plus isn’t the best middle element for its three-tier Galaxy S series (even if I blame the company for the frequent failures of Plus phones), but I sure don’t understand why it might’ve decided that the Edge is the best replacement. I’m internally screaming “lolwut” at this because, from a usability point of view, it makes no sense. From a marketing standpoint, it’s another story.

The Galaxy S25 Edge phone is controversial, and anytime I see someone with it — both regular users and fellow tech journalists — I hear so much praise for the more comfortable and lighter 163g body than for the thin profile. I also hear a lot of criticism of the phone’s tendency to throttle performance when it heats up. Not to mention the mediocre battery life.

There’s no way the Edge, which was launched as more of an addendum to the Galaxy S25 series, has done enough to earn a permanent spot in the S lineup. Even worse, there’s no way it is ready to displace the Plus and its 10-year pedigree. Samsung is making a big mistake if it thinks the Galaxy S25 Edge is more than a curiosity and a trend now. Like any bad trend (open shelving in kitchens, low-rise pants, and bad Instagram filters), those who were drawn by it will quickly spread the word about how terrible and impractical it is, and the public will do a 180. Well, unless Samsung does the work to make the Edge a more legitimate phone choice next year…

There’s one outcome where Samsung wins with this transition from Plus to Edge, and that’s if it can make a really good Galaxy S26 Edge. Keep the display size similar to the Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Edge, go for the thinner and lighter profile of the Edge, but adopt the faster charging of the Plus, add a third tele lens, and please, fix the terrible throttling when the phone heats up. Sadly, a proper periscope isn’t realistic at this thin profile, so I’m not asking for that. (A thicker S26 Plus could’ve had it, but alas, we’re seemingly not there anymore.)

What Samsung needs to do most of all, though, is adopt the new Silicon-Carbon battery technology that many of its competitors in the East are using. With that tech, Samsung could include a large enough battery in the Galaxy S26 Edge to make it usable in everyday life while keeping this coveted thin profile. No more silly 3,900mAh battery; it was a terrible idea on the Galaxy S23, and it’s still a terrible idea on the Galaxy S25 Edge. We do so much on our phones these days, and no one wants to enter a complicated co-dependent relationship with their wall charger and power bank. By going for a Silicon-Carbon battery, Samsung could easily cram over 4,000mAh of capacity without sacrificing thinness. It’s the only logical solution.

Can it do all of this in one year? The tech is there, but I have a hard time believing that the company that has recycled every possible design and spec of its Galaxy S series for years can implement this many upgrades in the span of a year. It’s more likely that the Galaxy S26 Edge will be another terrible phone, but the S27 Edge will fix its mistakes.

At what price, though? The Galaxy S25 Edge already costs $1,099 — $100 more than the Galaxy S25 Plus. If Samsung made all these upgrades, the Galaxy S26 Edge or S27 Edge could increase even more in price, approaching Ultra territory. I don’t know if we live in a world where paying more than $1100 is acceptable for a mid-flagship, but I don’t feel comfortable with that reality. $1000 is a hard line in my mind, with less for the more basic flagship and more for the Ultra. But with Samsung also going for a “Pro” Galaxy S26 as the basic version, well, all my math is out the window!

I just pity our collective wallets.