Phones · 2026 · Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S26

Name: Samsung Galaxy S26
Brand: Samsung

The Galaxy S26 is the smallest model in the series: a 6.3-inch 1–120 Hz AMOLED display, three rear cameras, 12 GB of RAM and Wi-Fi 7. In Europe and most markets it uses the Exynos 2600. Independent tests show longer battery life than the S25, but a clear performance drop under sustained load and slower charging than rivals.

SM-S942B/DS (Exynos 2600) · Black, 12 GB / 256 GB (SM-S942BZKGEUB)

Specifications

Specification	Value
Announcement	February 25, 2026 (pre-orders opened the same day)
Model code	SM-S942B/DS (SM-S942BZKGEUB; Black, 12 GB / 256 GB) Samsung varies the processor by market: the US, China and Japan versions use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. This entry covers the Exynos 2600 SM-S942B version.
Display	6.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (6.1 inches accounting for rounded corners); 2340 × 1080 (FHD+) The viewable area is smaller than the rectangular measurement because of the corners and camera hole.
Refresh rate	1–120 Hz adaptive The panel lowers its rate to match the content, slowing down on static images to save power and rising to 120 Hz for scrolling and games.
Peak brightness	2,600 nits This is Samsung's peak figure, not a brightness held across the full screen.
Cover glass and frame	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back; Armor Aluminum frame
Processor	Samsung Exynos 2600; 10 cores (3.8 / 3.26 / 2.76 GHz)
Graphics	Samsung Xclipse 960 Samsung says this GPU supports hardware ray tracing and is up to 50% faster at it than its predecessor.
Cooling	Redesigned vapour chamber with a tailored thermal interface material Samsung states up to 29% better heat dissipation for the S26; this is a figure from the maker's own testing.
Memory	12 GB RAM
Storage	256 GB (a 512 GB option also exists); no card slot Usable space is lower than the total because of preloaded software. Options vary by country and carrier.
Main camera	50 MP wide, f/1.8; autofocus and OIS
Ultrawide camera	12 MP, f/2.2
Telephoto camera	10 MP, f/2.4; 3x optical zoom
Zoom	3x optical; 2x optical-quality via the main sensor; up to 30x digital The 2x optical-quality zoom uses the centre of the main camera's Adaptive Pixel sensor; it is not a separate lens.
Front camera	12 MP, f/2.2; autofocus
Video	Up to 8K 30 fps recording; FHD 240 fps slow motion
Battery	4,300 mAh (typical); 4,175 mAh rated; non-removable Samsung quotes up to 30 hours of video playback; the typical figure was measured by a third-party lab to IEC 61960.
Wired charging	25 W; up to 55% in about 30 minutes The figure was measured from 0% with a 25 W Samsung adapter and 3 A USB-C cable, screen off. The adapter and cable are sold separately.
Wireless charging	Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 (WPC compatible); Wireless PowerShare PowerShare works only with certain Qi-compatible phones and wearables and may not work below 30% battery.
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be); 2.4 + 5 + 6 GHz; Wi-Fi Direct Wi-Fi 7 speeds need a Wi-Fi 7 router; 6 GHz use varies by country.
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.4
USB	USB Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 carries up to 5 Gbit/s of data, which speeds up wired transfers of large video files to a computer.
SIM	Dual SIM: nano-SIM + eSIM
Cellular	5G Sub-6, 4G LTE, 3G, 2G Band support varies by market.
Location	GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS
Sensors	Accelerometer, barometer, fingerprint, gyro, geomagnetic, Hall, light and proximity sensors
Desktop mode	Samsung DeX supported
Dimensions	149.6 × 71.7 × 7.2 mm
Weight	167 g Weight may vary by country and configuration.
Durability	IP68; up to 1.5 m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes (lab test) Water and dust resistance can decline over time with normal wear.
Software	Ships with Android 16 / One UI 8.5
Security updates	Until February 28, 2033
Colour options	Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White; Samsung.com-only Silver Shadow and Pink Gold; this entry is Black

From the manufacturer

Samsung presents the S26 as its third-generation AI phone with a more intuitive and proactive Galaxy AI, says the redesigned vapour chamber improves heat dissipation by up to 29%, and promises seven years of security updates. Samsung Newsroom

Strengths and limitations

In GSMArena's measurements the display hit 751 nits manually and about 1,383 nits in auto brightness on a 75% white area, and 2,552 nits on a 10% patch. It drops to 1 Hz when idle. HDR tops out at HDR10+; there is no Dolby Vision.
GSMArena review unit, Exynos 2600, March 2026; standard display test.
GSMArena: Samsung Galaxy S26 review, lab tests
GSMArena's Active Use battery score is 15 hours 20 minutes. On 25 W it measured 34% in 15 minutes, 62% in 30 minutes and a full charge in 1 hour 4 minutes; the team found charging faster than the S25 but slower than most rivals. The phone is Qi2 compliant at 15 W but has no built-in magnets.
GSMArena review unit, Exynos 2600, March 2026; 25 W USB PD/PPS charging.
GSMArena: Samsung Galaxy S26 review, lab tests
In GSMArena's sustained-load tests performance dropped about 40% in the CPU stress test and more than 50% in the GPU stress test. The team found the Exynos 2600 behind the Snapdragon version, especially in single-core CPU and graphics; results were close to the S25 and slightly below the S26+.
GSMArena review unit, Exynos 2600, 12 GB RAM; synthetic stress tests, duration and ambient temperature not stated.
GSMArena: Samsung Galaxy S26 review, performance
In an Android Addicts test reported by GSMArena, a European (Exynos 2600) and a US (Snapdragon) S26 were drained side by side on the same network. The Exynos unit shut down after 6 hours 48 minutes, the Snapdragon unit ran 2 hours 38 minutes longer, and the Exynos unit could not finish a 30-minute 4K30 recording because of heat.
Third-party video test, March 2026; one unit of each version, 12 GB / 512 GB; brightness and usage pattern not detailed. A single comparison, not a general rate.
GSMArena: Exynos 2600-equipped Galaxy S26 disappoints in battery test

Owner experiences and issues

Heat comes up repeatedly in owner reviews on Samsung UK: FaithM (August 2026) says the battery does not last the day and the phone warms up even off the charger, and Araz Golders (July 2026) says the front heats up and the replacement unit did too. Taha says the Minecraft heating happened on One UI 8.5 and went away on One UI 9.0.
Samsung UK product page, 256 GB SM-S942B reviews (FaithM and Araz Golders on Cobalt Violet SM-S942BZVGEUB); three separate people, no measurements. No failure rate or definite cause can be drawn.
Samsung UK: Galaxy S26 customer reviews
Dory71 (April 2026, Black SM-S942BZKGEUB) reports software problems including screen flicker, app crashes and the fingerprint reader failing to recognise them. Sevkk0 writes that the phone feels very similar to the S25.
Samsung UK product page; single-user reports, software version not stated.
Samsung UK: Galaxy S26 customer reviews
Most of the short reviews syndicated from Argos are positive: Chekee16 likes the battery, camera and speed compared with their old phone; hristoff praises the smoothness, display and battery; Hafi finds the size and features better than the S25.
March 2026 reviews syndicated from Argos on the Samsung UK page; short texts, ownership length and colour not stated.
Samsung UK: Galaxy S26 customer reviews

Samsung Galaxy S26

Specifications

From the manufacturer

Strengths and limitations

Owner experiences and issues

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