Samsung announces S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra AI smartphones

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Finally, after weeks of waiting, the full Samsung Galaxy S26 lineup is here: The Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra are all available for preorder now and scheduled to launch on March 11.

The Korean phone maker announced its latest series of Android flagships during a Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The S26 Ultra is Samsung’s slimmest Ultra series phone yet, and it introduces the world’s first-ever built-in Privacy Display. All three phones arrive with various improvements and new AI features, but the S26 and S26 Plus also bring a $100 price increase over the S25 models. In a hands-on demo, we found that the phones are slightly less boxy and lighter than the S25, and we’ll be sharing a full review in the weeks ahead.

Mashable is providing live updates from Galaxy Unpacked, so let’s dive into everything we learned about the new S26 lineup.

The new Galaxy S26 lineup: Pricing and specs

The new Galaxy S26 line delivers some key upgrades over Samsung’s previous-gen phones. The phones feature a custom chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy.

The Galaxy S26 goes for $899, the S26+ for $1,099, and the S26 Ultra for $1,299. The S26 no longer offers a 128GB option, which is why the starting price is now $100 higher. However, the S26 memory and RAM options remain unchanged, yet the price is still $100 higher than last year. A global memory shortage, not to mention tariffs, has been putting upward pressure on phone prices.

The new Samsung phones are available in six colors: Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, and Pink Gold. Those last two colors are online exclusives, as is normal for Samsung. Here are some of the other basic specs:

• Galaxy S26 display: 6.3-inch AMOLED with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate

• Galaxy S26+ display: 6.7-inch AMOLED with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate

• Galaxy S26 Ultra display: 6.9-inch AMOLED with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate and S-Pen support

• Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy

• Galaxy S26 and S26+: 12GB RAM and 256/512GB storage

• Galaxy S26 Ultra: 12/16GB RAM and 256/512GB/1TB storage

• Galaxy S26: 4,300mAh battery

• Galaxy S26+: 4,900mAh battery

• Galaxy S26 Ultra: 5,000mAh battery

The new Galaxy S26 lineup: Cameras

The camera array on the S26 Ultra.
Credit: Chris Taylor / Mashable

As for cameras, the S26 Ultra is clearly the choice for pro-level photographers. Here are the cameras included with each handset this year:

• Galaxy S26: A 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP telephoto lens, and a 12MP front camera

• Galaxy S26 Plus: A 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP telephoto lens, and 12MP front camera

• Galaxy S26 Ultra: A 200MP main shooter, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, 50 and 10MP telephoto lenses with up to 5x optical zoom, 12MP front camera

What’s new this year?

Credit: Amanda Yeo / Mashable

There isn’t a lot in terms of super exciting new flagship features, but the two most worth talking about are Creative Studio and Privacy Display. The former is a new, unified home for all your AI image and video editing needs. Rather than putting all of those things into separate apps, Samsung has grouped them all together in one place. Privacy Display, on the other hand, is an industry-first. The display technology will make the screen dark for people who aren’t looking at it head-on, hopefully giving users more peace of mind when using their phones in public.

Other highlights include:

• Corning Gorilla Armor 2 on Ultra

• A redesigned vapor chamber to dissipate heat on the Ultra

• All S26 cases will include magnets

• Redesigned Document Scanner built into the camera app

• 60w charging for the first time ever in the S26 Ultra

Credit: Chris Taylor / Mashable

Credit: Chris Taylor / Mashable

For those interested in using AI assistants, S26 users will be able to choose between Google Gemini, Samsung Bixby, and Perplexity.

In all, this looks to be a fairly incremental upgrade cycle for Samsung. Stay tuned for our reviews of these devices.

If you’re ready to preorder, head to Samsung to see the latest launch offers.

Head to Mashable’s Samsung Galaxy Unpacked live blog for the latest updates as the newest Samsung products and features are unveiled.