Samsung Galaxy S26 series is approaching, and one of its key attractions will be the optimized design. The phone lineup will consist of three models: Standard, Plus, and Ultra. Whilethe difference may not be significant compared to the previous generation, consumers will be able to spot the difference between the two generations.

If you are wondering what’s unique is heading our way this year, then you are still in the right place. Here, I will walk you through the top design changes of the Galaxy S26 series.

Dimensions

Standard

• Galaxy S26 – 149.6mm x 71.7mm x 7.2mm and 167 grams weight
• Galaxy S25 – 146.9mm x 70.5mm x 7.2mm and 162 grams weight

Plus

• Galaxy S26 Plus – 158.4mm x 75.8mm x 7.3mm and 190 grams weight
• Galaxy S25 Plus – 158.4mm x 75.8mm x 7.3mm and 190 grams weight

Ultra

• Galaxy S26 Ultra – 163.6mm x 78.1mm x 7.9mm and 214 grams weight
• Galaxy S25 Ultra – 162.8mm x 77.6mm x 8.2mm and 218 grams weight

The standard model is bigger than its predecessor, due to the improvement in screen size. The display is expected to be 6.3 inches over 6.2 inches in the S25, adding some weight.

The Plus model is the same as the last generation, but the upcoming Ultra model will have more height and width, while offering a slightly slim and lightweight design.

Radius

The S26 Ultra model will have more rounded corners than the previous model. Last year, Samsung deleted those pointy corners and brought a modern look to the top-end flagship. However, the company has decided to increase the radius.

Display

The screen will remain flat on these three models, but the Ultra will offer slimmer bezels on all sides. It’s observed in press render leaks that the display will have a slightly larger hole-punch.

Sides

The sides have power and volume adjustment keys. The bottom includes a charging port, speakers, anda  SIM card tray. Other sides includes atennas. The Ultra model will have an S-Pen slot.

Frame

One of the biggest changes in this Galaxy S26 series design could be the frame material. This year, all three phones may appear with an aluminium frame, including the S26 Ultra. This high-end phone has been using Titanium for the past two years.

Camera

Samsung has adopted a new look for the rear camera. While retaining the arrangement, the phones will now use a new camera bump that pretty much resembles the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Overall, the design looks better than the S25 Ultra, especially those crowns.

S-Pen

Since the Ultra is adopting larger corner curves, the S-Pen will also tweak its clicker head for a seamless design. Check the image below to understand the difference.

Conclusion

These are the major design changes in the upcoming Galaxy S26 series, unveiling at the Unpacked event. Besides, Samsung also has new technological breakthroughs that will also be unpacked at the event.

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One UI 8.5 upgrades are catching attention since day one, making it the best One UI software released to date, but its overall experience lags behind Apple’s iOS 26.

One UI 8.5 has revamped the user interface and brought new shapes to UI elements, improving the visibility and reachability simultaneously. Not only that, the software redesigned core elements, such as the back button and the search bar, for a user-centric approach, utilizing the unused space from past One UI versions.

These changes are distributed across system apps and make them feel graphically pleasing. Somehow, these UI elements still feel rigid when it comes to interactions and smoothness.

With this new update, a new bottom floating tab bar has appeared in the most frequently used apps. I’ve been using iOS for years, and iOS 26 was the first to implement this UI style. Released last year, iPhone users have praised this new approach of space efficiency and optimizing the on-screen view. Later on, Samsung replicated this UI but lacks the fluidity of iOS.

The new iPhone OS has a liquid glass design, and it’s not just a name; the UI works and simulates this effect when the user interacts with buttons and tabs. The smoothness starts from unlocking the phone to scrolling through the gallery and navigating menus. Apple has improved iOS 26 in all aspects despite early visibility issues.

When you switch from iOS 26 to One UI 8.5, Samsung’s software feels low-grade with every tap, despite offering better graphics. For some of the advanced users, Good Lock could do the trick and save the day. However, not everyone is keen on doing extra optimizations to their devices, which should come out of the box. A key reason behind this argument is that in-built system optimizations are way more power efficient than add-ons.

Over the past few years, Samsung has worked a lot on UI/UX improvements for Galaxy devices. Yet, the current face of One UI 8.5 doesn’t provide satisfying results against iOS 26. We can stay optimistic about future iterations, but Samsung will have to heavily optimize the UI/UX to provide optimum smoothness.

What’s your take on this matter? Share it through our social media channels.

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Samsung’s Ultra S-series has been the most dominating camera smartphone in the Android world, while the DXOMARK team may think otherwise, consumers know it’s a real deal. That said, we’re 8 days away from the Galaxy S26 Ultra release, and the phone maker has planned camera upgrades, which could provide an enhanced all-around photography and videography experience.

Here’s the table of contents in case you want to dive into a specific section.

1. Main
2. Ultra-wide-angle
3. Primary telephoto
4. Secondary telephoto
5. Selfie camera
6. 24MP camera mode
7. AI Intelligence
8. Camera assistant

Main camera

Samsung has used the 200MP main camera for the past three generations, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra will retain this module. The new version will equip a larger sensor than previous generations, including a 1.4 aperture over the 1.7 aperture used in the S25 Ultra.

This will help the camera to take brighter images and high-quality videos. It will drop motion blur, increase shutter speed, and the portrait shots will appear precise. Also, the colors will feel more natural thanks to the new optimizations.

Image – Samsung Galaxy S26 Night Camera Teaser

Ultra wide angle

It’s one of the most underated but the most unique capability, and the next-gen device will use a 50MP sensor with f/1.9 aperture and 120-degree field of view, a 1/2.5-inch sensor size, and 0.7-micrometer pixels, as well as phase-detection autofocus. Basically, it’s the same as the last generation.

Telephoto

A 50MP telephoto camera could take good photos, but Samsung’s version hasn’t impressed much in a long-distance zoom competition. However, a sensor upgrade is planned for the 5X zoom lens with a f/2.8 aperture over the f/3.4 used in the S25 Ultra. Again, a larger aperture will let more light into the images and improve the zoomed scene. Who knows, we may now have a less pixelated view than before.

Secondary telephoto

Early versions of leaks suggest that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use an upgraded 12MP 3x telephoto, as its predecessor did, with a 10MP version. However, now it’s being reported that the 12MP sensor will be used to capture 10MP resolution.

This strategy may benefit in capturing more details, but the resolution is likely to remain the same as the previous model. However, the situation around the 3x telephoto remains doubtful.

24MP camera mode

Samsung’s 200MP Ultra models come with three preset camera modes – 200MP, 50MP, and 12MP. Among these, the 12MP is set by default, which means most of the features rely on this resolution, since it enables faster image processing.

This situation may change with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which could bring a new 24MP camera mode. You should know that Apple has already switched to a 24MP mode as the default. And, this may be a time for the Korean phone maker to do the same for its flagship phones.

With an optimized 24MP resolution, you can take high-quality shots. Still, we have to see whether Samsung quits on the 12MP default mode.

New selfie sensor

If you are not into the rear camera, the S26 Ultra may have a surprise for you. According to reports, Samsung has installed a new sensor for better image quality and a wider field of view to capture more people in one picture. We’ve been expecting the company to adopt a square camera sensor against the iPhone 17 Pro series, but that may not be going to happen at least this year.

AI enhancements

Samsung has already made it clear that this year’s Unpacked will once again deploy new AI technologies with the Galaxy S26 series. So, you can expect improvement in AI features such as pre- and post-image processing, subject and face detection, pixel enhancement, and other key imaging capabilities.

Camera Assistant

Besides hardware and AI upgrades, the Galaxy S26 Ultra could unlock some extra perks with the Camera Assistant plugin. Some of these additions are video softening and auto focus controls. These two extra options could help pro users to control more image properties and capture better photos and videos. Learn more about them here.

Conclusion

These are just some of the most notable camera specs, but we may have more that could be uncovered at the Unpacked 2026 event.

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We’re just 9 days away from the Galaxy S26 series launch event, and Samsung has decided to pack this new flagship with a new software with 9 software upgrades that you can look forward to.

New buttons

With this version, One UI 8.5 has revamped its core UI elements, including the back button. It’s now more compact and touch-friendly than ever before. On the other hand, the search bar has been simplified to save space and enlarge the full-screen view. The same goes for the floating tab bar, which succeeds the previous generation.

Better colors

The software has improved semi-transparent effects and colors, enhancing the UI visibility for a better experience.

New control panel panel

Galaxy S26 series will have a customizable quick panel, increasing the range of motion from swapping controls and buttons, and providing more freedom across the UI arrangement.

Image – SammyFans

Better apps

Some of the system apps are completely redesigned with new UI, background, and better animations. For example, the clock app has a subtle shape of the region in the background of the world clock. On the other hand, the bottom button navigation bar is changed ot the rounded floating bar. Similar changes can be found in the Gallery as well as other apps.

New Power Saving

Now, if you are like me, you may want to know how to preserve your new Galaxy S26 series phone’s battery life. One UI 8.5 has revamped the power saving mode, enhancing your control over the apps and features that you no longer want to drain your phone’s power.

Improved Lock Screen

While Samsung may not offer any huge difference from One UI 8.0 in this segment, the new software has made the lock screen layout more adaptive than before. It has removed some constraints on the clock design as well.

Gen AI

The Galaxy S26 series will come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset with an enhanced NPU. This will contribute to more powerful AI features, including the new generative AI. One of the fan favorite features – the object removal and replacement tool will get a massive upgrade with this release.

Privacy display

One of the biggest highlights of this release is the new display privacy feature, which will allow the Galaxy S26 series users to hide the on-screen content from other people. This technology combined the software and hardware capabilities to provide confidence to use the phone in public.

Surprise Ahead

The list doesn’t end here; the Galaxy S26 series will have more software features that we’re not aware of, and for that, we’ll have to dive into the Unpacked 2026 event on February 25. We’ll be covering the new revelations from the conference, so stay updated.

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Google has officially announced Android 17, marking the beginning of the new software development, and in parallel, Samsung has also started working on One UI 9.

A few days ago, a new software version appeared on Samsung’s server, later identified as One UI 9. Along with this identification, it’s found that the update is designed for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 foldable.

For those who are unaware, starting last year, Samsung began releasing the foldables with a major One UI version. Specifically, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 were the first to run Android 16 (One UI 8.0), which later expanded to the Galaxy S25 series through OTA update.

This year is gonna be the same, with the Galaxy Fold 8 and One UI 9 taking the center stage at the next Unpacked event. For now, Samsung hasn’t shared any official information on the One UI 9 launch date, but we do have Google’s update on Android 17.

Android 17

On February 13, Google officially announced Android 17’s first beta. The Android maker is focusing on improving privacy, security, and performance with this major release. Besides, the update will also optimize the camera and media features, new app updates, while providing some new capabilities in connectivity and smart connected devices.

One of the major changes in this update is shifting away from developer preview to a continuous canary channel. With that, Google will continue to release Android 17 updates through 2026, including new improvements.

According to the Android 17 schedule, the software will see beta releases from February to April 2026. That said, the final release should be somewhere in the second quarter of this year.

As confirmed above, Google will conduct the Android 17 release through 2026, so there’s a possibility that the development run before launch could be shorter than previous Android versions. So, Samsung could launch the out-of-the-box One UI 9 with the Z Fold 8 in July (at the earliest) and expand this Android 17 update to older devices starting late Q3 and later.

We’ll keep you posted with new news on this matter.

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Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy S26 series on February 25. These phones will release the One UI 8.5 software out of the box, but the most important question is whether the company will share its expansion information for old Galaxy devices.

Samsung has been testing One UI 8.5 since December 2025, starting with the Galaxy S25 series. The beta updates reveal graphical upgrades over One UI 8.0 and prior releases. The key improvements are quite visible, including optimized UI controls.

Importantly, the program is still open, with Samsung releasing beta 4, while beta 5 is reportedly in the schedule. It suggests that the program could run through February. However, Samsung could still do one thing, confirming the rollout with a solid roadmap for previously released Galaxy models.

Over the past three months, Samsung has been conducting internal One UI 8.5 build tests for various Galaxy devices, including the S24, S23, foldables, and mid-range phones.

This indicates a wide One UI 8.5 rollout preaprations but the speed of the current test campaign is slow. Therefore, we’re heading to the Unpacked February 2026 to know more about the software’s full release.

There’s a slight chance that we might get a hint of when the rollout may start for existing devices. However, previous Unpacked events, such as the S25 series and Z Fold 7 events, didn’t do justice to previous flagships. To be mentioned, these two have been the first to test the One UI 7.0 beta and 8.0 beta, respectively.

Instead, it took at least two months extra for Samsung to make these updates public after official announcements. We can’t expect the same for One UI 8.5, since it’s an incremental update and has the same base Android version as One UI 8.0.

So, there’s a chance that Samsung may surprise the Galaxy S25 series users with a new update and expand gradually to old devices. However, we’ll have to see how things unfold at Unpacked.

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A recent Galaxy S26 Ultra promo image leak has revealed the bigger picture of the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 and answered one of the most important questions from this lineup.

A few days ago, tipster Evan Blass shared press renders of the top-of-the-line S26 model. The phone shows refined contours, an optimized camera design, and four colors – black, cobalt violet, sky blue, and white. You may have noticed that the word “Titanium” is missing in these color names.

For example, the Galaxy S25 Ultra had titanium black, titanium gray, titanium silverblue, and titanium whitesilver, besides the online exclusive shades. The name is an identifier for the titanium versions.

On the other hand, the render reveals a brighter color tone of the S26 Ultra than its predecessor. That suggests that the company is dropping the titanium frame this year.

Samsung started using titanium with the Galaxy S24 Ultra and retained this frame with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. These two phones have gathered praises around the globe, especially with last year’s release. This new design has improved design strength and reduced weight. Overall, contributing to a better in-hand experience.

Adding to this, Apple has also given up on titanium in favor of aerospace-grade aluminum to improve thermal conductivity, reduce weight, and optimize battery life. While Samsung remains conservative on the battery capacity, the S26 Ultra might bring better heat resistance with the next Ultra model.

Since Samsung follows the same trends, there’s a high chance that Aluminum to return with the Galaxy S26 series and titanium will be blacked out.

Besides the Galaxy S26 Ultra promo leak, Samsung hasn’t spilled any official word in this regard. However, the Unpacked is only two weeks away, with a clearer update.

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