Samsung has exhibited a fair bit of indecisiveness with the Galaxy S26 series in 2025, leading into the new year. Among the many of the calls the company made was to replace the ‘Plus’ variant in the lineup with the slimmer ‘Edge’ model. However, the company reversed course not much later, ultimately deciding to keep the Plus version.
This meant Samsung was unable to make any meaningful hardware upgrades to the Galaxy S26 Plus. A new report out of South Korea effectively confirms this. According to sources cited by The Elec, Samsung will retain the same 6.66-inch AMOLED QHD+ screen from the Galaxy S25 Plus, except for some supplementary components.
Although Samsung initially wanted to use the OLED panel designed for the potentially scrapped Galaxy S26 Edge, the company reportedly opted for a “verified specification” for the Galaxy S26 Plus. This makes sense given that Samsung barely had months to prepare for the Galaxy S26 Plus after the late decision to bring it back.
The Elec’s report also notes that the Galaxy S26 Ultra has already gone into production as of December, with the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26 Plus expected to follow suit this month.
It’s no surprise that Samsung is counting heavily on the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s success this year, although reports suggest the upgrades on board won’t be major. Still, we expect to see at least a few inclusions to justify upgrading to the new flagship, including in the software department.
A largely unchanged hardware
As for the Galaxy S26 Plus, we’ve also recently learned that it will retain the same 4,900mAh battery pack as its predecessor. While no particular upgrades are expected in the wired charging speeds (45W), the inclusion of built-in magnets should improve wireless charging speeds beyond the Galaxy S25 Plus’ 15W limit.
Despite the lack of major upgrades, a price increase for the Galaxy S26 series may be on the cards. This was inevitable considering the soaring component costs, specifically in the semiconductor industry, which is only expected to get worse this year.
In addition, Samsung has also pushed the early-year Unpacked event for the Galaxy S26 series’ unveiling to February 25, meaning the phones won’t reach retail shelves until early March.
A combination of all these factors indicates that 2026 may be among the toughest years in recent memory for Samsung. The impact could be particularly greater for manufacturers that don’t have the resources of an industry juggernaut like Samsung.
