<\/p>\n
I loved last year\u2019s Galaxy S25. Its small size and lack of weight felt refreshing after years spent with Samsung\u2019s Ultra phones. I should love the Galaxy S26, then. It\u2019s still small, it still weighs practically nothing, and it has a larger battery than last year. Despite those changes, I\u2019m disappointed by the Galaxy S26, not because of what it is, but because of what it could have been.<\/p>\n
2 votes<\/p>\n
Hadlee Simons \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
With how quickly the rumor mill accelerates, I wouldn\u2019t blame you for forgetting about the Galaxy S26 Pro. Last summer, the rumored Galaxy S26 lineup looked drastically different from what Samsung launched. For a time, it looked like Samsung was going to release a Galaxy S26 Pro, S26 Edge, and S26 Ultra, and as we know, only one of those phones exists.<\/p>\n
I had visions of Samsung making an equivalent to the Pixel 10 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro.<\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t any rumored specs to go along with the Galaxy S26 Pro, but the name gave us a lot to speculate on. For years, Samsung fans have been asking for something smaller than the Ultra model without losing out on all of its features. I personally had visions of Samsung making an equivalent to the Pixel 10 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro.<\/p>\n
Imagine it: a small and compact 6.3-inch Samsung phone with a 200MP primary cam, 50MP ultrawide-angle, and 50MP 5X telephoto lens. A camera-focused phone that doesn\u2019t break your fingers when you try to use it with one hand and doesn\u2019t feel like a brick in your pocket. The S Pen and 10MP 3X lens could be scrapped to save space and allow the Ultra to keep some of its uniqueness. The S Pen likely wouldn\u2019t have fit anyway, and the 3X lens is tired and useless even on the Ultra.<\/p>\n
Zac Kew-Denniss \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
Reality turned out very different from this fantasy. The Galaxy S26 is an S25 with a new chip, higher base storage, and a display and battery that have gotten marginally bigger. It\u2019s the same phone we\u2019ve seen from Samsung for years now, and that isn\u2019t an exaggeration. The Galaxy S26 has identical rear cameras to the Galaxy S22 from 2022. They\u2019re not awful cameras, but compare them to any competitor in this price range, and things fall apart, especially when you factor in the shutter lag that plagues all of Samsung\u2019s phones.<\/p>\n
Samsung Galaxy S26Samsung Galaxy S26<\/p>\n
Powerful performance \u2022 New Galaxy AI features \u2022 Bigger Battery<\/p>\n
Compact flagship with Galaxy AI and strong performance<\/p>\n
The compact flagship of the lineup, pairing a slightly larger display with solid battery life, fast performance, and the full suite of Galaxy AI features in a more affordable package.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not saying the Galaxy S26 is a bad phone. As I said at the outset, I loved the Galaxy S25, and I\u2019m sure I\u2019d love the Galaxy S26 if I had one, too. But you can still point out the flaws in something you love, and the Galaxy S26 is an inherently flawed device that costs more than last year, despite the fact that it carries few meaningful upgrades.<\/p>\n
We can speculate about why the Galaxy S26 Pro never happened. Component costs, supply shortages, or maybe it was a false rumor to begin with. It doesn\u2019t matter. I couldn\u2019t care less about why the Galaxy S26 Pro doesn\u2019t exist. What I do care about is the Galaxy S26 being a disappointing parts bin special, and that Samsung\u2019s customers deserve so much better than this.<\/p>\n
How do you feel about the Galaxy S26? Do you think Samsung missed a trick by not giving it the overhaul it deserves? Please let us know.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I loved last year\u2019s Galaxy S25. Its small size and lack of weight felt refreshing after years spent with Samsung\u2019s Ultra phones. I should love the Galaxy S26, then. It\u2019s still small, it still weighs practically nothing, and it has a larger battery than last year. Despite those changes, I\u2019m disappointed by the Galaxy S26,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[5159,1747,483,5004,831,5158],"class_list":{"0":"post-5238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile-games","8":"tag-cancelled","9":"tag-galaxy","10":"tag-pro","11":"tag-s26","12":"tag-samsung","13":"tag-shouldnt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beteja.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}