Samsung Galaxy S26 vs S25: What’s new?

Specs comparison table

Price and Availability

Although the Galaxy S26 is the cheapest of the 2026 flagship series, with a starting RRP of £849, it’s pricier than the Galaxy S25’s official RRP.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208273

In comparison, not only does the Galaxy S25 have a cheaper starting RRP of £799/$799 but as it’s a year old, it’s not impossible to find the handset for less. We also expect the RRP to drop over the coming weeks too.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10207153

Exynos 2600 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy

While almost the entire S25 series (apart from the Galaxy S25 FE) benefited from Qualcomm’s custom Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, the S26 series sees an unwelcome split. 

Essentially, the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus both run on Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 processor while the S26 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. Just note that this isn’t the case in the US, as the entire S26 series will run on Qualcomm’s custom chip.

This is exactly what happened back in 2024 with the Galaxy S24 series, and although Samsung promised both Exynos and Snapdragon chips offered the same level of performance, we found that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was significantly more powerful.

So, how much does this really matter? In reality, as Samsung promises the Exynos 2600 will offer up to 39% NPU, 24% GPU and 19% CPU improvements, you can still reasonably expect the Galaxy S26 to run quickly without much stutter. However, we’ll be sure to update this versus once we do review the Galaxy S26 and determine its performance for ourselves. 

Otherwise, unsurprisingly we were impressed with the Galaxy S25’s performance, as the phone performed excellently in everyday use without a hint of stutter or lag. While there was a slight tendency for the handset to warm up during use, it was never enough to cause concern. 

Although it has been bested by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy remains a brilliant chip for most smartphone users.

Galaxy S26 has a slightly larger battery

While some of the best Android phones, like the OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 Pro are fitted with enormous batteries that are upwards of 7000mAh, Samsung Galaxy handsets tend to fall short in comparison. Although the Galaxy S26’s battery has seen an improvement over its predecessor, at 4300mAh it still falls short of even the best mid-range phones. 

It might sound pretty measly but it’s actually larger than the S25’s own 4000mAh cell. Even so, we still found the Galaxy S25 was able to comfortably see us through a day’s worth of use before needing a top-up. With that in mind, we expect a similar if not slightly better performance from the Galaxy S26.

Galaxy S26 starts at 256GB

The Galaxy S25 handset comes in a choice of three sizes: 128GB, 256GB or 512GB, with all options equipped with 12GB of RAM too. While all sizes of the Galaxy S26 also come with 12GB of RAM – an impressive feat given the ongoing RAM prices crisis – its smallest handset is a whopping 256GB.

This is a hugely welcome upgrade, especially considering so many more apps and games require more storage space than ever before. Otherwise, much like the Galaxy S25, its maximum capacity is 512GB.

No camera changes with the Galaxy S26

Samsung’s flagship handsets have always been praised as being among the best camera phones, so the fact the Galaxy S26 retains the same hardware found in the Galaxy S25 is somewhat unsurprising. 

However, considering we concluded that although the Galaxy S25’s trio of rear lenses does offer great results, it was starting to fall behind the competition back in 2025, it’s a shame that Samsung decided against making any major changes.

Improvements and new additions to Galaxy AI

Galaxy AI, Samsung’s AI toolkit, has become a staple with the brand’s flagship (and even some of its more affordable) smartphones. While both the S25 and S26 will include the likes of Circle to Search, Gemini and Samsung’s suite of photo editing tools, the S26 promises to offer some additional features and improvements too. 

Some of the improvements are found within the Now Bar and Now Brief, which now both offer more personalised and adaptive recommendations throughout the day. Plus, Circle to Search can now identify multiple elements within a section.

However, one new feature found within the Galaxy S26 is Now Nudge which provides you with real-time suggestions based on what’s happening on screen. For example, if someone messages you asking to send them specific photos, Now Nudge will provide a shortcut to do this, without you needing to search through your files. 

Early Verdict

When it comes to the Galaxy S26, it’s fair to say that Samsung hasn’t reinvented the wheel here. While there are some welcome tweaks, including a bigger battery, new Galaxy AI tools and more storage space as standard, there’s really little reason to upgrade from the S25 or even the S24. 

We needed to see more of an overhaul with the Galaxy S26 in order for us to recommend the phone, and unfortunately we just haven’t got that. Having said that, we’ll be sure to update this versus once we’ve reviewed the Galaxy S26.