GSMArena Team, 10 March 2026

Samsung Galaxy S26+ review

6. Final words, our verdict, pros and cons

The competition

At the time of writing, the MSRP for a base 12GB/2556GB Galaxy S26+ is $1,100/€1,250/£1,100 and a 12GB/512GB one goes for $1,300/€1,450/£1,270. For a more comprehensive breakdown of pricing for the S26 and S25 generations, you can head to this article. That's a pretty penny and allows for plenty of choice for competitors.

The first and most obvious place to start looking is the Galaxy S25 generation. As we've said quite a few times throughout this review, the S26+ is basically identical to the S25+, so that's the first option we'll explore. At current pricing, a 12GB/256GB S25+ will run you about $1,000/€916/£1,000. That's not too bad in terms of savings, and you will be getting essentially the same experience minus some software perks here and there, many of which will likely be backported eventually.

Samsung Galaxy S25+ • Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

And here's another alternative approach for you to consider - why not use the nifty year or so depreciation in price to the Galaxy S25 Ultra and get that one instead? It starts at about $1,200/€1,150/£1,070. And the Ultra is well, the Ultra with its bigger display and second telephoto camera.

Outside camp Samsung, there are some viable options as well. If you stretch your budget a little bit and are ok with 256GB of storage, then the iPhone 17 Pro Max can be yours. It brings to the table a bigger display and a more capable camera setup, among other things. The Apple A19 Pro is a true powerhouse, whether it be for gaming, multimedia capture or editing.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max • OnePlus 15 • Xiaomi Poco F8 Ultra

The OnePlus 15 is an excellent device through and through, and it even costs a bit less on average than the S26+. It is a great way to get your hands on Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, an very good camera setup and a modern and large 7,300 mAh Si/C battery pack with blazing-fast 120W charging.

The Poco F8 Ultra can't offer LTPO tech for the display and the fine-grained refresh rate control it offers, but other than that, you still get an amazing panel with Dolby Vision. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset is at the helm. There is a very potent and versatile triple 50MP camera setup, and again a pretty hefty 6,500 mAh battery with 100W charging.

Our verdict

The Galaxy S26+ is a very easy phone to like and a surprisingly difficult one to recommend.

On its own merits, it is unquestionably a proper flagship. The build quality is excellent, the display remains among the best in the industry, performance is top-tier regardless of which chipset you get, and battery life is very solid. Samsung's software support policy also continues to lead the Android world with seven years of updates, and One UI remains one of the most feature-rich Android skins around.

The problem isn't what the Galaxy S26+ is - it's where it sits. Just like previous generations, the Plus model exists in a somewhat awkward middle ground in Samsung's lineup. The vanilla Galaxy S26 offers a more compact form factor and a lower price, both strong arguments in its favor. At the other end of the spectrum, the Galaxy S26 Ultra delivers a far more complete flagship experience with a larger display, more capable camera hardware and the S Pen.

That leaves the S26+ in the familiar position of being essentially a bigger Galaxy S26 with a higher price tag.

Matters aren't helped by the fact that Samsung barely changed anything compared to last year's Galaxy S25+. Aside from the new chipset, slightly tweaked design and faster wireless charging, the two phones are nearly identical. That makes it difficult to justify paying full price for the new model when the previous generation can often be found for less.

With a bit of luck and a well-timed deal, last year's Galaxy S25 Ultra can often be found for similar money, and that device simply offers more hardware.

None of this means the Galaxy S26+ is a bad phone - far from it. It's polished, powerful and dependable in all the ways we expect from a modern Samsung flagship. But in a market full of excellent alternatives and even stronger options within Samsung's own ecosystem, it ends up being a tough sell.

If you specifically want a large Galaxy S phone but don't need the Ultra's extra camera hardware or S Pen, the S26+ will serve you very well. For everyone else, however, there are simply more compelling choices out there.