For years, Samsung has been refining its Galaxy S series lineup, and with the standard Galaxy S26 model, that approach is even clearer. And this year, more than just refining, Samsung has also made a couple of changes. First, it has dropped the 128GB variant completely. Yes, the Galaxy S26 now starts at 265GB in the base variant, officially, which sounds great on paper. But do note it also brings a Rs 7,000 price jump compared to the Galaxy S25. Because I am not sure how many of you folks noticed, but last year, after the S25 went official, Samsung later introduced a 128GB variant specifically for India, so that it could be more accessible for buyers.
Personally speaking, getting the 256GB variant as the entry point on a flagship phone is always a good move. What’s even better is that I’m someone who loves compact phones. Something I can comfortably use with one hand, and that’s exactly where the Galaxy S26 fits perfectly into my daily lifestyle.
I’ve been using the Galaxy S26 for a little over two weeks now, and here’s what I think about it.
Galaxy S26 Design: It’s familiar yet distinct
For me, Samsung has nailed the design this time. Don’t worry, I don’t mean to imply that the Galaxy S26 is dramatically different from its predecessors, as the device still carries that compact flagship feel. It’s lightweight, slim and easy to use with one hand. At just 7.2mm thick, it looks and feels very sleek, and this time, Samsung managed to increase the battery size by 300mAh compared to the Galaxy S25.
Overall, the Galaxy S26 feels very premium in hand. It has an aluminium frame, and both the front and back glass are protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The matte finish on the black looks clean, although it still attracts fingerprints, so I had to wipe it quite often.
I’ve been using the Cobalt Violet colour of the phone, which looks absolutely fantastic. Samsung also offers the Galaxy S26 in multiple other colours, including Black, White, and Sky Blue. There’s also Silver Shadow and Pink Gold, which are Samsung exclusive.
Apart from the colours, the visual change this year is at the back. As I mentioned, the company has nailed the design with this phone. Seen that camera plateau on the S26 Ultra? Samsung has given it on the standard S26 and S26 Plus too, giving all three phones a unified look. Although I would admit, it looks similar to the camera module on the Galaxy Fold 7.
That said, because of the raised camera module, the Galaxy S26 wobbles quite a lot on a flat surface, so typing on this device while it rests on a desk would be tough.
You still get IP68 water and dust resistance, but not IP69, IP69K, which some competitors are starting to offer. The stereo speakers are loud and clear, the typing experience is good as you’d expect from a compact phone, and the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner remains fast and reliable.
Galaxy S26 Display: Samsung doing Samsung things
I can easily say, this is one department where Samsung never disappoints me, and the Galaxy S26 continues that streak.
You get a 6.3-inch FHD+ LTPO display with an adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate. Samsung calls it the Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel. Compared to the S25’s 6.2-inch panel, this one is slightly larger. Also, right from the start, you can tell that this is a gorgeous screen. It is sharp, the colours pop and contrast levels are excellent.
I watched a couple of movies on this screen, and the experience felt cinematic in terms of the colour reproduction. The blacks are deep, and everything looks pleasing.
Outdoors visibility is also excellent. I have been using the Galaxy S26 in Delhi’s summer, and the display remained visible throughout. I never had to squint my eyes to see the display.
Of course, I have to test this display in our Digit Test Labs. In the brightness test, the display reached a peak brightness of 2650 nits, which is very impressive.
In the Calman colour test, it recorded an average Delta E of 2.2. Now, this is not class-leading because I’ve seen displays that got an average Delta E of as low as 0.6. But beyond the numbers, in real-world usage, the display looks bright and crisp, and that’s what really matters.
Also, in the Colour gamut test, it covers 99.9 per cent of the sRGB colour space, which again is excellent to say the least.
Galaxy S26 Performance: One of the strongest contenders in its class
The Samsung Galaxy S26 is the first phone in the world to come with a 2nm chipset, the Exynos 2600. In terms of raw power, this is a flagship processor without a doubt. It delivers strong benchmark numbers, and we’ll get to that in a moment. In everyday usage, too, it feels fast and responsive.
Now, in terms of managing the thermals, it does a pretty good job most of the time for most tasks. You see, while playing games on the Galaxy S26 for extended periods, the phone tends to warm up. For instance, after around 30 minutes of gaming, you can feel the rise in temperature on the back. And this is something that also showed up in the CPU throttling test, where the phone scored a 57 per cent stability. This suggests that, while the phone is capable of handling the load, it does so at the cost of performance consistency to keep the heat in check.
However, other benchmark scores were much better. In Antutu, it scored 3.1 million, which is great. In Geekbench 6, it scored 3,137 in single-core and crossed the 10,000 mark in multi-core score. In the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme test, it got an overall score of 7,201. Again, these are top-tier numbers that only a flagship phone in 2026 can achieve.
So, coming back to the gaming performance, it has been mostly amazing. For context, you can play BGMI at 120fps with stable performance. In Call of Duty Mobile, you can play at 120fps as well, with smooth gameplay and minor frame drops. However, in Genshin Impact, there are certain scenarios where you’ll notice frame drops, but hey, you can still expect stable gameplay with an average 55fps performance.
Galaxy S26 Cameras: Quite a reliable shooter
The Galaxy S26 comes with a triple camera setup, including a 50MP main sensor with OIS, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 10MP 3x telephoto lens. On the front, you get a 12MP selfie camera, which now offers a slightly wider field of view.
In daylight, the main camera performs very well. Images turn out detailed, sharp and vibrant. Speaking of colours, Samsung’s image processing makes them pop, giving photos a more social media ready look. The main sensor also handles dynamic range quite well.
In tricky lighting, though, images tend to look slightly soft, with a bit of brightness, especially when you’re trying to capture faces.
I also tried capturing moving subjects, but even a slight movement often resulted in missed shots or blur.
The 3x telephoto lens takes great pictures, offering good edge detection and an ample amount of background blur. The ultra-wide lens, too, captures good outdoor shots with decent detail and strong contrast.
Selfies turn out well, with good details, sharpness, and proper exposure. I particularly like the selfie camera’s low-light performance, as the lens captures a good amount of detail in the output. For instance, in this photo, you can also see that it didn’t add any blue tint to the sky, giving a more natural result, as I would prefer.
In terms of video recording, the main camera can shoot up to 8K at 30fps with stable footage. The ultra-wide and telephoto lenses can record videos up to 4K at 60fps, and the front camera also supports 4K video at 60fps.
Galaxy S26 Software: Useful AI features
The Galaxy S26 runs on One UI 8.5 based on Android 16, and the overall experience is clean, smooth and optimised. As one would expect, Samsung continues to deliver the AI features, and once again, with the S26 series, they are actually useful.
One of the new additions is Now Nudge. While I’m texting using the Samsung keyboard, the feature understands what’s happening on my screen and suggests actions accordingly. I only wish the feature gets rolled over to other third-party keyboards too, like Gboard.
Then there’s Now Brief, which gives you a personalised summary throughout, including your schedule, news, YouTube videos and even weather-based outfit suggestions.
Google also updated its Circle to search for the S26 series. You can identify multiple things in a single frame, like you can identify the shirt, pants and shoes individually in one go. You don’t have to circle one thing at a time.
The Gallery app also gets AI features, where you can change outfits, edit backgrounds, or even add new elements to the images. The feature is called Photo Assist, and if you thought Generative Edit was good. You have to try this one out.
Finally, if you buy the Galaxy S26, Samsung is promising 7 years of Android updates along with 7 years of Security patches. In terms of future-proofing, this phone is all covered.
Galaxy S26 Battery: It’s okay, but not the best
Alright, this is the department where the Galaxy S26 feels behind the competition. Credit where credit is due, Samsung has increased the battery capacity to 4,300mAh from 4,000mAh on the Galaxy S25. Also, there’s only so much you can do with a compact phone if you want to keep it as light and as slim as the S26 is.
In real-world usage, the Galaxy S26 lasts about a full day with moderate use. My typical usage involves a lot of doomscrolling on Instagram, watching YouTube videos, using other social media apps and all of that. I was mostly left with around 10% battery by the end of the day. So, the max you can expect out of this one is a full day of use on a single charge. Or you’ll have to charge it mid-day if you’re a heavy user.
Granted, if you want better battery life, you can go for the S26 Plus, or even the Ultra, if you want to go all in. But, I guess, that’s the price of getting a compact one.
For those who care about numbers, in the PCMark battery drain test, it performed surprisingly well and gave 16 hours and 30 minutes of screen on time.
In terms of charging, the phone supports 25W wired charging and takes around 1 hour and 16 minutes to go from 0 to 100 per cent. By the way, competitors are offering much faster charging at lower price points. The phone also supports 15W wireless charging.
Galaxy S26 Verdict: Polished, capable and dependable
The Galaxy S26 has not reinvented anything, but as I mentioned at the beginning, it is extremely refined. After using it for more than two weeks, I am happy to report that the Galaxy S26 offers a solid user experience and is quite dependable. It gets almost everything right without trying too hard. Of course, the phone’s greatest KSP has to be its compact form factor. But even the other things, like the display, are excellent, and the performance should be strong enough for most users.
Yes, there are compromises for sure, like the battery life may not be class leading, or the charging may not be the fastest. But if you want a compact flagship (mind you, there are only a handful of them) that delivers a premium experience without going into Ultra territory, the Galaxy S26 is a great option to consider. At Rs 87,999, it may not be perfect, but it is polished, capable and dependable in all the ways that actually matter.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | 25 Feb, 2026 |
| Market Status: | Launched |
Key Specifications
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Siddharth Malhotra
Siddharth Malhotra is a former software engineer who turned his lifelong fascination with gadgets into a full-time gig as a tech and gadgets anchor & writer. With over 200K followers across his social media platforms, all tuning in for their daily dose of tech, he’s your sneaker-wearing guide through the ever-evolving world of innovation. Expect sharp insights, a dash of humor, and an unshakable love for all things futuristic. View Full Profile
