Samsung was reportedly going to shake up its S series with a new lineup featuring the S26 Pro (rebranding the S26), the S26 Edge (replacing the S26 Plus) and the flagship S26 Ultra. However, that plan may have blown up before it even got off the ground.
According to leaker Yogesh Brar, Samsung won’t be going that route. Instead, we’ll see the safe naming scheme from the last few years.
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Samsung is back to the old naming scheme for their flagshipsGalaxy S26, S26 Plus and S26 UltraNo Galaxy S26 Pro or S26 EdgeThey seem to have given up on thin & light phones for now…October 22, 2025
Brar’s tweet comes not long after rumors that Samsung is cancelling the S26 Edge due to poor sales for the Galaxy S25 Edge. So at this point it looks like it’s back to normal for next year’s S phones with the S26, S26 Plus and the S26 Ultra.
Brar’s leak seems to confirm a previous one from SamMobile that asserted Samsung would not use the Pro moniker as a way to juice sales for the base model.
With that, what do we know about Samsung’s flagship lineup? Surprisingly little about the lower models now that the Plus is coming back and the Edge may be dead. However we have heard rumors concerning the high-end S26 Ultra, which should be rounder and feature a slightly redesigned camera array.
What we know so far
(Image credit: Future)
The vanilla S26 may not be a big change from the S25 other than a larger 6.7-inch display and a 4,300 mAh battery. Every S26 model is rumored to get a new, larger sensor that captures more light.
Additionally, every model should run on the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, though there are rumors that Samsung is trying to use its own Exynos 2600 in the phones. That has been an annual topic of speculation for a few years and has yet to be proven out. Though Samsung did use an Exynos chipset in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 which proved underpowered compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered Motorola Razr Ultra.
Beyond that, Samsung may finally utilize silicon-carbon batteries over lithium-ion to increase battery capacity, though this feels less likely based on 5,000 mAh battery capacity rumors we’ve seen.
The Ultra
(Image credit: Ice Unvierse)
The Ultra, on the other hand, may have a few more changes.
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As mentioned above, it should have even rounder corners and curves than the S25 Ultra. The camera lenses could also sit on a raised platform. Unfortunately the S26 Ultra could ditch the S Pen, as one leaker claimed Samsung is removing the S Pen digitizer in favor of adding in Qi2 wireless charging components.
It could ditch the hole-punch camera cutout for the first non-folding Samsung phone to feature an under-screen camera.
Speaking of cameras, Samsung might add a variable rate aperture to the S26 Ultra. On the bad news front, it’s been rumored that the sensors will remain the same as those in the S24 and S25 Ultra.
Despite rumors that the capacity will remain the same at 5,000 mAh, the S26 Ultra could get 60W charging, a 15W improvement over the 45W S25 Ultra.
Outlook
The implosion of the S25 Edge may have scuttled a lot of plans in Korea, but it hasn’t really felt like the S26 series was ever going to be a leap forward in 2026 like next year’s iPhone lineup with the iPhone Fold is supposed to be.
We’ve still got a few months to go until we see what Samsung pivots to next year, especially with rumors that the S26 debut has been delayed to March rather than the recent January launches. The company has time to tinker, and it may need it.
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