5 changes the Galaxy S26 needs to win over frustrated fans

When you’re a Samsung fan, chances are high you were not thrilled with this yr’s Galaxy S25 lineup. It is not that Samsung’s S25 telephones are dangerous, however they’re a few of the most lukewarm year-over-year enhancements we have ever seen.

Samsung’s {hardware} design? Unchanged. The cameras? the identical factor. Battery capability and charging velocity? You already know the reply.

Samsung is completed with the Galaxy S26 sequence, and if the corporate desires to win over pissed off followers, there are 5 key adjustments that subsequent yr’s telephones must make.

Let’s begin with probably the most apparent adjustments: the brand new designs. Regardless of just a few minor tweaks right here and there, Samsung’s Galaxy S telephones have not undergone a big design change for the reason that Galaxy S23. Yearly it is the identical factor over once more with solely the tiniest of refinements.

With the Galaxy S26 sequence, Samsung must up its design recreation and present us one thing new. Visually, we’re lengthy overdue for a brand new digicam. It is also excessive time Samsung upped its colour recreation, because the fifty shades of grey method for the Galaxy S25 sequence wasn’t precisely probably the most impressed selection.

And from a usability standpoint, I am begging Samsung to discover a strategy to make its Extremely telephone extra snug and fewer clunky to carry. Telephones just like the OnePlus 13 show that it is potential to create a big but ergonomic telephone, and I hope Samsung learns this lesson with the Galaxy S26 Extremely.

Fortunately, we appear to be (largely) getting what I am in search of right here. Photos of the Galaxy S26 Professional (now prone to launch with out the Professional moniker) and S26 Extremely present a barely up to date digicam, whereas the Extremely seems to be getting a way more rounded and fewer shapely body. We nonetheless do not know what the colour choice will appear to be, however that is all pointing in the precise route.

Much more vital than design, Samsung additionally must concentrate on its digicam programs for your entire Galaxy S26 household. Much like design, that is one other facet of the Galaxy S line that has been repeatedly ignored yr after yr. The bottom Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus have just about an identical digicam sensors to these used within the S22 and S22 Plus, whereas the S25 Extremely’s cameras share a lot in frequent with the S23 Extremely.

I do not suppose anybody would describe any of the Galaxy S25 telephones as having dangerous cameras, nevertheless it’s additionally clear that Samsung is overdue for enhancements right here. That is very true of the S25 and S25 Plus, whose digicam programs do not feel worthy of their $800 and $1,000 beginning costs, respectively. And whereas the S25 Extremely nonetheless has a really succesful digicam system, telephones just like the vivo X300 Professional and OPPO Discover X9 Professional present simply how far behind Samsung is.

Whereas rumors have prompt that the Galaxy S26 sequence can be one other yr with out digicam adjustments, Samsung itself not too long ago teased in any other case, saying that the Galaxy S26 lineup will embody “new digicam sensors.” The specifics of those sensors are nonetheless a thriller, however simply the truth that new sensors are coming is a giant deal – and precisely what Samsung wanted to do.

Like its design and digicam efforts, Samsung additionally hasn’t performed a lot in the best way of battery innovation over the previous few years. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Extremely have the identical battery capacities because the S20 and S20 Extremely – telephones which might be over 5 years previous. And it isn’t like there have not been any main battery improvements since then. The OnePlus 15 is among the many telephones to make use of silicon-carbon battery know-how, permitting it to pack in an enormous 7,300mAh battery – a very large quantity in comparison with the 5,000mAh battery within the S25 Extremely.

And it isn’t simply the most recent 2025 flagships which might be placing Samsung’s battery recreation to disgrace. The Google Pixel 9a – a mid-range telephone below $500 – has a much bigger battery than the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Extremely. In what world does that make sense? Samsung followers have been deserving of larger batteries for years, and the S26 sequence ought to lastly handle that.

Whereas together with bigger batteries, Samsung additionally wants to extend charging velocity. That is one other space the corporate has left untouched since 2020, and it reveals. When Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, HONOR, vivo and others supply charging speeds of 60W, 80W and even 120W, Samsung’s paltry speeds of 45W for the Extremely and 25W for the bottom Galaxy S are embarrassing by comparability.

We stay in a world the place most Android telephones nonetheless do not have built-in magnets for Qi2 charging, nevertheless it seems like we’re on the verge of that altering. Google’s Pixel 10 sequence is the primary set of mainstream Android telephones with built-in magnets, and as we head into 2026, it is easy to think about different manufacturers will observe swimsuit.

A kind of manufacturers needs to be Samsung. The corporate’s choice to label the S25 sequence “Qi2 Prepared” initially prompt that the telephones would have built-in magnets, however that was clearly not the case. Samsung additionally not too long ago launched its Qi2 magnetic chargers, regardless of not but having a telephone in its portfolio that may use them with out a magnetic case.

This repeated flirtation round magnetic Qi2, with out but providing a telephone that helps the usual, has been disappointing. The excellent news is that the S26 sequence is believed to alter that, and we will solely hope that it truly does.

Some of the disappointing and controversial adjustments Samsung made to the Galaxy S25 Extremely was the downgrading of its S Pen. The choice to take away Bluetooth/distant management performance, whereas not a giant deal to everybody, was nonetheless a no brainer.

Bluetooth S Pen connectivity has been round for the reason that Galaxy Be aware 9, a smartphone launched in 2018. Utilizing the S Pen as a distant digicam was one in all my favourite options of the Galaxy Be aware and later the Galaxy S Extremely. Extra controls, like unlocking the telephone or controlling music playback with the S Pen, made it much more magical.

As such, for Samsung to come back out of nowhere and take away these remotes with the Galaxy S25 Extremely was a intestine punch. Samsung says it did this as a result of so few individuals used the Bluetooth options, however that should not matter. For a $1,300 telephone, Samsung ought to be including performance, not eradicating it — particularly for one thing as low-cost as a Bluetooth low-energy chip. There isn’t any indication that Samsung is bringing again remotes to the Galaxy S26 Extremely, but when the corporate desires to do proper by its followers, it completely ought to.

These are the adjustments I believe Samsung ought to concentrate on with the Galaxy S26 sequence, however there’s much more the corporate may do — whether or not it is new software program options, a lowered emphasis on AI, or one thing else. No matter you wish to see modified with the Galaxy S26 sequence, let’s discuss it within the feedback.