Samsung Electronics will unveil its new flagship smartphone series, the "Galaxy S26," at the end of this month. We summarized the expected product features into four keywords: artificial intelligence (AI), camera, charging speed, and price.
◇ CPU performance up to 39% better with expected Exynos 2600, On-device AI advanced
On the 23rd, the industry said Samsung Electronics will hold an Unpacked event in San Francisco, California, at 3 a.m. on the 26th (Korea time) to unveil the Galaxy S26 series.
The first keyword is AI performance. The industry expects the base and Plus models of the Galaxy S26 to come with Samsung Electronics' mobile application processor (AP), the "Exynos 2600." The Exynos 2600 is a chipset built on a 2-nanometer GAA process, and with a deca-core design based on the latest Arm architecture, its central processing unit (CPU) performance is said to be up to 39% improved over the previous model. The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is also improved, and there is an outlook that Generative AI computing capability has increased by 113%.
Memory has likewise been set in a direction that boosts On-device (built-in) AI throughput. There is talk that all models may come standard with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. LPDDR5X has more than 33% higher bandwidth than LPDDR5, which is seen as advantageous for large-scale AI computation and multitasking.
On the software side, expanding Galaxy AI features is key. The Galaxy S26 is expected to ship with One UI 8.5, now in beta testing. With this, the voice-recognition AI assistant "Bixby" is also expected to be enhanced. According to Samsung Electronics, when users speak the function or setting they want, Bixby will grasp the intent and suggest appropriate settings or features.
Generative and editing AI features also appear set to be strengthened. There is speculation that an On-device image generation model, "EdgeFusion," which handles photo correction and image generation on the device without an internet connection, could be included. The user inputs text, and the device generates and corrects images to match the input.
◇ Limited changes to the camera; only the Ultra may see low-light improvements
The second keyword is the camera. The Galaxy S26 series' camera specifications are reportedly not significantly different from the previous generation in broad strokes. However, the Ultra model is likely to see changes. According to the industry, the Ultra model has improved performance to take in more light in low-light environments by widening the aperture from f/1.7 to f/1.4. AI is likely to play a deeper role not only in post-processing after shooting but also in "real-time processing" such as scene recognition, noise reduction, and separating people and subjects during shooting.
◇ Base 25W, Plus 45W, Ultra 60W wired charging seen as likely
The third keyword is charging speed. The industry sees it as likely that the base model will support 25W, the Plus 45W, and the Ultra 60W wired fast charging. As the Galaxy S series has never supported 60W fast charging, the Ultra's change could stand out. The previous generation's maximum wired charging speed was 45W. At maximum output, 60W is about 2.4 times that of 25W, leading to expectations that supported models will feel much faster early in the charge.
Battery capacity is expected to be little changed from the previous generation. Many observers see the Plus and Ultra keeping the same capacities. The base model is projected to increase by 300mAh over the previous model with a 4,300mAh (milliampere-hour) battery. An electronics industry official said, "As AI features grow, power consumption rises, so perceived battery capacity and charging speed have reemerged as key buying factors," adding, "AI new features will come to all models, but the camera and charging speed are likely to improve mainly on the Ultra."
◇ Price hikes inevitable; all models seen up 99,000 won
The final keyword is price. The consensus in the industry is that ex-factory prices will inevitably rise due to higher costs of key components. The industry expects all Galaxy S26 models to be about 99,000 won higher than the previous generation. The domestic ex-factory price for the base Galaxy S26 (256GB) is cited at 1.254 million won, the Galaxy S26 Plus (256GB) at 1.452 million won, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB) at 1.797 million won.
Some see the Ultra model's price increase being larger than expected. That is because there is talk it could use a Qualcomm AP, which costs more than Exynos, and because it may include a privacy display using Samsung Display's "Flex Magic Pixel (FMP)" technology. FMP adjusts the viewing angle so people next to you cannot see the screen, and it allows you to turn on privacy only when needed or control the viewing angle for specific areas of the screen.
Meanwhile, leaked images suggest the Galaxy S26 series will come in four colors: black, white, sky blue, and cobalt violet.