Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
Samsung, unlike this year, which saw the launch of the S25 in January, has reportedly pushed the S26 series launch by another month in 2026.
If the sources of the tipster who goes by the moniker Ice Universe on X platform are to be believed, Samsung is expected to host a hardware event to showcase the S26 series in mid-February 2026 and the devices are expected to hit stores in March.
The Galaxy S25 series is expected to come in three variants-- a top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26 Plus and a regular S26 model.
The company is expected to bring another S26 Edge a little later in the year.
In a related development, a notable big upgrade we can expect in the new S26 series is a faster charging speed.
Compared to rival brands, for a long time, Samsung phones have supported a slower 25W charging speed. In 2020, Samsung introduced the S20 Ultra with an improved 45W speed. However, it still lags behind the competitors, which now offer 120W charging speed.
A X platform user Anvin (@ZionsAnvin), citing the Chinese regulatory agency 3C (China Compulsory Certification) portal, has revealed that the Galaxy S26 Ultra (codenamed: SM-S9480) will come with 60W fast charging.
For the uninitiated, 3C is the Chinese equivalent of the Federal Communications Commission of the US. All consumer electronics goods have to be registered in the portal to be sold in the respective countries.
Coming back to the topic at hand, the value-added fast charging feature will enable the owner to charge the Galaxy S26 Ultra in around 35-45 minutes, provided the device will have 5,000mAh battery. This is a big upgrade over the predecessor, which used to take around 65-70 minutes (from zero to 100 per cent).
Depending on the market, Samsung plans to offer the Galaxy S26 series with either Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or the Exynos 2600 chipset.
The devices are expected to come with Android 16-based One UI 8.5 software and support up to seven years of OS updates and security patches for protection against emerging cyber threats up to 2033.
Given the shortage of memory cards and increased prices of processor chipsets worldwide, the new Galaxy S26 series is expected to cost significantly more compared to the predecessor's launch price.
Besides the new processor, the new Galaxy S26 series phones are expected to come with improved build quality, better display and enhanced camera hardware.