The Samsung Galaxy S26 is the last truly compact flagship Android phone on the market, making it easy to hold and pocket. However, while it offers fast performance, AI features, and reasonable battery life, its camera system lags behind competitors.
The S26 is the cheapest and smallest of this year's top Samsungs, dwarfed by the S26 Ultra in size and price. Its price has increased by £80 to £879 (€949/$899/A$1,349), but it now comes with double the starting storage.
Design and Display
The S26 features a bright, crisp, and smooth 6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen is slightly larger than its predecessor, but with skinny bezels, the phone is only 2.7mm taller and 1.2mm wider, making the change unnoticeable in use. The design is simple and feels good in the hand, with flat aluminum sides and a frosted glass back. At 167g, the phone feels very light by modern standards, making it easy to hold and pocket.
Performance and Battery
For this year's model, Samsung uses its own Exynos 2600 chip in the regular S26 and S26+ outside North America, rather than Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The Exynos 2600 is only slightly behind Qualcomm's performance and efficiency, making the phone feel snappy and perform well across the board. The S26 lasts about 40 hours between charges with average use, with the screen actively used for about five hours on Wi-Fi and 5G. Most users will need to charge the battery nightly. It can last more than two days with lighter use on Wi-Fi, but gaming hits the battery hard, making it less suitable for hardcore gamers. The phone supports 25W USB-C charging, reaching 60% in 30 minutes and full charge in 77 minutes (power adapter not included), along with 15W wireless charging, but lacks the magnets needed for Qi2 charging and accessory capability.
Software and AI
The S26 runs One UI 8.5 (Android 16) out of the box, with numerous AI tools layered on top of good, customizable software. Features include text, transcription, and image editing utilities, plus call assist that blocks spam calls. Samsung's 'Now Nudge' AI assistant pulls data from apps to offer timely suggestions above the keyboard in messaging apps, such as calendar events and locations. While limited, it shows promise. Samsung will provide software updates until February 28, 2033, ensuring long-term use.
Camera
The S26 has the same rear camera setup as its predecessor: a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP 3x telephoto camera, plus an improved 12MP selfie camera. The rear cameras haven't changed much since the S22 in 2022, which is starting to show. The main camera shoots solid photos in good light with lots of detail, but the ultra-wide can't focus particularly close, and the 3x telephoto is unremarkable. In low light, images are soft and noisy, though night mode helps a bit. The S26 shoots very good video and inherits the impressive horizontal lock feature from the S26 Ultra. The selfie camera is one of the best on a phone, capturing good detail with solid dynamic range and low light performance. Overall, the camera is not bad, but it hasn't moved on significantly in years, and you can get much better results on similarly priced rivals.
Sustainability
The battery should last for 1,200 full charge cycles. Screen repairs cost £149 through authorized service centers and include a battery replacement. Samsung also offers a self-repair program. The phone contains 21.2% recycled content, and Samsung provides an environmental impact report along with trade-in and recycling schemes for old devices.
Price and Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S26 costs from £879 (€949/$899/A$1,349). For comparison, the Galaxy S26+ costs £1,099, the Galaxy S26 Ultra costs £1,279, the Google Pixel 10 costs £799, and the iPhone 17 costs £799. The Galaxy S26 is one of the smallest and lightest flagship smartphones available, making it easy to hold and pocket. The 6.3-inch screen is great for most activities. The phone feels fast, and battery life lasts a good day and a bit of general use. The software is solid with long support and useful AI tools. However, the model has changed very little in several years, particularly in the camera department, which is showing its age. The lack of Qi2 magnets for accessory support is also a miss. Pros: compact and lightweight, good 6.3-inch screen, good software with seven years of support, top performance, OK triple camera, access to latest AI features, good battery life for size, cheapest Samsung flagship. Cons: iterative design, cameras bettered by rivals, no 5x zoom, battery life shorter than bigger phones, most AI capabilities overhyped.
