The Samsung Galaxy S26 is the last truly compact flagship Android phone, making it easy to hold and pocket. This small top-tier device is fast, AI-loaded, and offers reasonable battery life, but it falls short of rivals in camera performance.
Design and Display
Samsung's compact flagship hasn't changed much in a year, but the S26 remains one of the best smaller handsets available as competitors grow larger. It is the cheapest and smallest of this year's top Samsungs, dwarfed by the S26 Ultra in size and price. However, the price has increased by £80 to £879 (€949/$899/A$1,349), though starting storage has doubled.
The bright, crisp, and smooth screen is slightly larger at 6.3 inches diagonally, but with skinny bezels, it is only 2.7mm taller and 1.2mm wider than its predecessor. The design is simple and feels good in the hand, with flat aluminium sides and a frosted glass back. At 167g, the phone feels very light by modern standards.
Performance and Battery
This year, Samsung uses its own Exynos 2600 chip in the regular S26 and S26+ outside North America, rather than Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The Exynos 2600 is only slightly behind Qualcomm in performance and efficiency, making the phone snappy and capable across the board.
The S26 lasts about 40 hours between charges with average use, with the screen active for about five hours on Wi-Fi and 5G. Most users will need to charge nightly. Lighter use on Wi-Fi can extend battery life to over two days, but gaming drains it quickly, making it less suitable for hardcore gamers.
The phone supports 25W USB-C charging, reaching 60% in 30 minutes and full charge in 77 minutes (power adapter not included), plus 15W wireless charging. However, it lacks the magnets needed for Qi2 charging and accessory capability.
Software and AI Features
The S26 runs One UI 8.5 (Android 16) out of the box, with numerous AI tools layered on top of good, customisable software. Tools include text, transcription, and image editing utilities, plus call assist that blocks spam calls by answering and asking the caller's reason. Samsung's "Now Nudge" offers timely suggestions in messaging apps, pulling data from apps on the phone. Samsung will provide software updates until 28 February 2033.
Camera
The S26 has the same rear camera setup as its predecessor: a 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP 3x telephoto camera, plus an improved 12MP selfie camera. The rear cameras haven't changed much since the S22 in 2022, and it shows. The main camera shoots solid photos in good light, but the ultra-wide cannot focus particularly close. The 3x telephoto is decent but unremarkable. In low light, images are soft and noisy, though night mode helps slightly. Video quality is very good, with a new horizontal lock feature. The selfie camera captures good detail with solid dynamic range.
Overall, the camera is not bad, but it has not advanced significantly, and similarly priced rivals offer much better results.
Sustainability
The battery should last for 1,200 full-charge cycles. Screen repairs cost £149 and include a battery replacement. Samsung offers a self-repair programme. The phone contains 21.2% recycled content, and Samsung provides trade-in and recycling schemes.
Price
The Samsung Galaxy S26 costs £879 (€949/$899/A$1,349). For comparison, the Galaxy S26+ costs £1,099, the Galaxy S26 Ultra costs £1,279, the Google Pixel 10 costs £799, and the iPhone 17 costs £799.
Verdict
The Galaxy S26 is one of the smallest and lightest flagship smartphones, easy to hold and pocket. The 6.3-inch screen is great for most activities. The phone feels fast, and battery life lasts a good day and a bit. Software is solid with long support and useful AI tools. However, the camera has changed little in years and is outperformed by rivals. The lack of Qi2 magnets is also a miss.
Pros: Compact and lightweight, good 6.3-inch screen, seven years of software support, top performance, decent triple camera, access to latest AI features, good battery life for size, cheapest Samsung flagship.
Cons: Iterative design, cameras bettered by rivals, no 5x zoom, battery life shorter than bigger phones, most AI features overhyped.
