Samsung Galaxy S26 release date might be later than we thought
Rumors say that Samsung will release the S26 in February, but a new report suggests otherwise
📱 Samsung might release the Galaxy S26 in mid-March
📆 That’s later than previous rumors suggested, and much later than the S25
👷 Samsung reportedly faced challenges developing the S26 lineup
💰 There could also be a price hike across the board
Samsung is widely expected to launch the Galaxy S26 later than previous Galaxy S devices, but it seems like the release date could be even later than we thought. A new report from Dealabs says that the S26 lineup won’t be released until March 11 in France, about two weeks after we expect Samsung to announce the phones.
The report says that the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and Galaxy S26 Ultra will all ship in mid-March, which is soon after the rumored February 26 launch event. We expect the phones to launch around the world at the same time, so it’s safe to assume that if this rumor is correct, March 11 is also the launch date in the United States.
We’ve heard for a while that the Galaxy S26 lineup would ship much later than typical January or February timeframes, all thanks to a massive shake-up to the S26 lineup internally. Samsung originally planned to introduce the “Galaxy S26 Pro” and “Galaxy S26 Edge” alongside the S26 Ultra, but due to the poor performance of the S25 Edge, Samsung flipped the switch and went back to the Plus series. It’s not clear what happened to the “Pro” in “Galaxy S26 Pro,” but we expect it to just be “Galaxy S26” regardless.
Recent reports indicate that the price of the Galaxy S26 series may go up by around $50 due to RAM shortages and other factors like inflation. The design is expected to remain largely the same as last year, save for the S26 Ultra which might get a bigger camera bump. All three will reportedly come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor.
We’ll know more about the Galaxy S26 series leading up to its launch in a couple months, so stay tuned.
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.