Don’t wait for the Galaxy S26: The S25 is the smart buy of early 2026

Samsung is gearing up for the launch of the Galaxy S26 series on February 25, but expectations for the phones are quite low this year. It doesn’t look like much will change in both the base Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus compared to their predecessors — at least not enough to justify an upgrade. These will be the worst phones of 2026 on an expectation-to-reality scale; we all expect Samsung to do better.

The lack of significant upgrades also makes waiting for the regular Galaxy S26 a huge waste of time, in my opinion. If you’re in the market for a new phone, now’s a good time to grab a Galaxy S25, not an S26. Here’s why.

Everything we’ve heard about the upcoming Galaxy S26 so far doesn’t sound too encouraging. Or ground-breaking. Like in previous years, Samsung is concentrating the bulk of its planned upgrades on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, treating the base Galaxy S26 and larger S26 Plus as afterthoughts. This seems to be more so the case in 2026 than in any previous year because these two phones weren’t in Samsung’s original plans. The company had planned on overhauling its S series with a Galaxy S26 Pro and an Edge model, then pivoted almost last minute to reinstate the regular S26 and S26 Plus. The reason? It’s speculated to be financial pressure to meet Apple’s iPhone 17 pricing.

So, for the fourth year in a row, there are zero planned camera upgrades for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus. No upgrade to the 12GB of RAM, especially in the current state of worldwide RAM shortage. Also, the display won’t be brighter or have a faster refresh rate.

The real upgrades can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The Galaxy S26 series will obviously get a pimped version of the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and we’re still questioning if Samsung will be able to handle the processor’s overheating tendencies to sustain performance across complex tasks. The regular Galaxy S26 is said to get a slightly larger battery — but none of that 6,000mAh+ battery magic from OnePlus — and a minimally larger display, but everything else is likely to stay the same. There are conflicting rumors around charging speeds, with some reports saying it’ll remain at a dead-slow 25W and others suggesting an upgrade to 45W. As for built-in Qi2, leaks suggest Samsung is pushing for more Qi2 accessories, which would indicate the inclusion of magnets, but nothing is sure yet.

And… That’s it. I suppose we’ll get some flashy new Galaxy AI features that everyone will forget about in a few weeks. None of this makes the Galaxy S26 a bad phone, but neither does it make it worth waiting for.

If you’re in the market for a new phone, you have more interesting choices today than waiting for a barely-upgraded Galaxy S26 or S26 Plus. If you’re adamant on buying a Galaxy phone and you love Samsung’s One UI, there are only three valid reasons to wait for February 25: a) your carrier plan allows a free upgrade to the S26, b) you really need faster charging in your everyday life and want to see if the 45W charging rumor pans out, or c) you expect the Galaxy S25’s price to drop further when the S26 launches, making it a better deal than now.

Aside from these, there’s no need to wait. Last year’s small Galaxy S25 offers nearly the same features and can already be bought at a discounted price. It’s currently $650 on Amazon, but it often drops to $600 or lower. That’s $200 less than what the Galaxy S26 is expected to launch at (if there are no price hikes in the US). You may be able to get the Galaxy S25 for much less on a carrier deal, too. And given that Samsung’s pre-order offers and bonuses are pointless nowadays, there’s likely no way that the Galaxy S26 will have a better launch price.

This is what makes the Galaxy S25 a more sensible purchase decision over the next few months. It also explains why the Galaxy S25 is seeing an uptick in sales several months after launch. Maybe everyone has realized that waiting is pointless.

If you’re willing to walk outside of the comforts of your Samsung life, there are many other interesting options to look at, too. The OnePlus 13 starts at around $800 for the 12GB/256GB version and offers a more versatile camera setup with a much larger battery and faster charging, and can often be found at a lower price. The Google Pixel 10 is now discounted to $650, just like the Galaxy S25. It offers a superior camera experience with a 5x telephoto lens, has built-in Qi2, and a much brighter display. Outside the US, options from Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO, and others are way more enticing than the Galaxy S26 will ever be.

So skip the wait, put a price watch on one of these phones, wait for a good deal, and nab them. Vote with your wallet. The only way Samsung realizes it made a mistake by stagnating so long is if it sees its sales numbers and profits drop.