Samsung’s New Galaxy S26: Faster, Fancier, and More AI‑Focused

Samsung has pushed its flagship Galaxy S line forward with the new S26 series, which includes a base model, a plus version, and an ultra edition. The phones look similar to last year’s lineup, but the company has tweaked some internal parts and added a stronger focus on artificial intelligence. The main hardware changes involve the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a custom version built for Samsung that promises better performance and improved on‑device AI handling. The chip uses 3 nm technology, new CPU cores, a powerful GPU and an advanced neural processing unit. Samsung claims the phones run faster overall while managing heat better with a larger vapor chamber. Battery upgrades are modest: the base model now holds 4, 300 mAh instead of 4, 000, and all models can charge faster. The ultra edition can reach 75 % battery life in just 30 minutes thanks to a 60‑W charger, up from 45 W on its predecessor. The cameras stay largely the same as last year’s, but the ultra edition keeps a 200‑MP main sensor and offers 8K video recording to an external drive. A new privacy feature, called Privacy Display, limits the screen’s viewing angle so that people nearby can’t easily peek at your phone. The feature uses a “Black Matrix” technology that focuses light directly on the user.AI is the star of this release. Samsung says the S26 series is an “Agentic AI phone, ” meaning it integrates AI throughout the system. On‑device features include a Now Brief panel that pulls useful information from apps and shows it on the lock screen, as well as Nudges that suggest actions based on what’s happening on the screen. Samsung has also added an “Ask AI” function to its web browser, allowing users to ask questions and get summarized answers from an integrated research engine. The gallery app now offers AI‑powered editing tools, and Samsung has marked edited images with a visible watermark to show they were altered. The phones also partner with Google for several AI services. Messages will get scam‑detection powered by Google’s AI, and a new search feature can identify multiple objects in an image. A Gemini‑powered agent can carry out multi‑step tasks like ordering food or booking rides, though Google advises users to supervise the process closely. Samsung’s new phones are available for preorder now, with trade‑in deals that can reduce the price by up to $900 if you bring in an older model.