These Galaxy S26 Rumors Hint At Samsung Making A Big Performance Bet - Will It Pay Off?

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Galaxy S26 could motorboat pinch Samsung's caller Exynos 2600 processor.
• Expect meaningful camera upgrades crossed nan Galaxy S26 lineup.
• Rumors still conflict, but here's what nan Galaxy S26 mightiness offer.

It is very early successful nan Galaxy S26 rumor cycle, but nan flagship lineup has Galaxy Z Fold 7's success to match. 

There person been confusing specifications astir Samsung's upcoming phones. Earlier, location were rumors of a Galaxy S26 Pro, but they were later discarded. Similarly, immoderate speculated that nan Korean institution would switch its Plus exemplary pinch a Galaxy S26 Edge, but recently, different study claimed that location won't beryllium immoderate Edge aft nan adjacent variant.

Also: I've tested each azygous Galaxy S25 phone, and my favourite isn't nan flagship model

All of this leaves maine pinch vague details, but location are a fewer things to expect from nan base, Plus, and Ultra models. Here's everything I cognize truthful acold astir nan upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 series.

Exynos to return aft a agelong hiatus

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According to a recent report by Korea Economic Daily, nan Galaxy S26 lineup will beryllium powered by an in-house Exynos 2600 chipset. The caller processor is said to beryllium housed successful astir 50% of nan Galaxy S26 devices crossed South Korea and European regions. The US, Japan, and China markets will reportedly get Qualcomm-powered units.

For reference, Samsung utilized to person Exynos-powered flagship Galaxy S-series phones until nan Galaxy S22. In caller years, it shifted to Qualcomm, pinch nan Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S25 lineups dropping Exynos entirely. Samsung returned to its in-house processor for nan Galaxy Z Flip 7 this year, which was powered by nan Exynos 2500 SoC. That said, nan Galaxy S26 lineup is said to person an all-new processor.

Also: I've tested each azygous Galaxy S25 phone, and my favourite isn't nan flagship model

The Exynos 2600 will beryllium made in-house by Samsung Foundry, while Apple and Qualcomm trust connected TSMC. As per nan report, this chipset is based connected a 2nm process, which is touted to boost an NPU that is six times faster than Apple's A19 Pro. When compared, this NPU is speculated to beryllium 30% faster than Qualcomm's flagship chipset.

Samsung Galaxy S26's Exynos 2600 chipset is said to connection 14% amended CPU multi-core capacity and up to 75% higher GPU performance. The GPU is reportedly up to 29% amended than Qualcomm's. Those are precocious claims, and I americium funny to spot nan ratio of Samsung's adjacent mobile processor. The Exynos SoCs of yesteryear were infamous for getting excessively warm. I expect nan Exynos 2600 to beryllium better, but clip will tell.

Are location awesome camera improvements?

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

I dream Samsung puts a bigger sensor wrong nan Galaxy S26 Ultra, astatine least, but nan rumors person been unclear. Although 1 of them claimed that adaptable aperture tech could make a comeback pinch nan Galaxy S26 series. Moreover, a caller ALoP lens exertion could importantly trim nan camera bump size.

Also: The champion Samsung phones to bargain successful 2025

The guidelines Galaxy S26 is said to athletics a caller 50MP superior camera sensor, while nan Ultra could upgrade to a larger 1/1.1-inch 200MP Sony sensor. It could connection an F1.4 aperture, which would fto 47% much ray in. As a result, expect amended nighttime photography. Moreover, Samsung could bump nan 3x telephoto camera from 10MP to 12MP, while nan ultrawide is said to stay nan same.

I dream nan sensor upgrade rumors are existent because Samsung flagships request a camera overhaul. Year complete year, nan upgrades successful optics person diminished, and nan Galaxy S25 Ultra couldn't guidelines a chance against nan Oppo Find X8 Ultra successful my recent comparison.

Is location a Galaxy S26 Pro aliases not?

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

There were rumors of Samsung replacing nan guidelines Galaxy S26 exemplary pinch a Galaxy S26 Pro and nan Galaxy S26 Plus pinch a Galaxy S26 Edge. However, arsenic much accusation astir nan Galaxy S26 bid trickles in, nan much confusing it gets.

According to nan latest report, nan entry-level Samsung flagship will conscionable beryllium called nan Galaxy S26. A abstracted report claims that Samsung could cancel nan Galaxy S26 Edge. So, that leaves nan regular suspects: Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and nan Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max: I tested some devices, and here's nan winner

That said, nan guidelines exemplary is said to get a artillery boost pinch a 4,300mAh artillery alternatively of a 4,000mAh compartment recovered connected nan current-gen Galaxy S25. While location is nary confirmation connected artillery capacity for nan different 2 variants, I dream nan Galaxy S25 Ultra gets a artillery upgrade excessively -- particularly erstwhile a smaller OnePlus 15 is expected to battalion a ample 7,300mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy S26 merchandise day

Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

A report claims that nan Galaxy S26 bid could beryllium delayed to March, citing that Samsung is still down connected Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus' development.

However, I don't deliberation that's going to hap since different brands are gunning for earlier-than-usual launches. The OnePlus 15 is said to beryllium released globally adjacent period -- 2 months earlier than nan OnePlus 13 -- while different Chinese brands are said to travel suit.

Also: Your Samsung telephone has a concealed Wi-Fi paper that's ace useful - really to entree it

If Samsung delays nan Galaxy S26 launch, it would time off a large merchandise spread for competing devices to situation Samsung. There's different speculation of nan institution releasing nan Galaxy S26 Ultra successful January and pursuing it up pinch a guidelines Galaxy S26 merchandise successful September. I've heard a akin motorboat rhythm rumor for Apple. It could beryllium possible, but I expect astatine slightest 1 Samsung Galaxy S26 smartphone to motorboat successful January 2026.

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