Samsung Galaxy S26 5G mobile: Expected launch date, price and more

Samsung S26 line-up pricing could end up being interesting, thanks to Apple pricing the iPhone 17 aggressively.

Samsung Galaxy S26 is set to be the next big flagship launch from the Korean giant, and there have already been multiple leaks, including ones hinting at the possible design and suggesting that Samsung may retain its three-model line-up with the S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra. Now, the latest reports give us an idea of the pricing we can expect, as well as the cameras that could be on offer.

Samsung Galaxy S26 launch price expectations and more

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 5G design and colour options leaked ahead of launch. (x)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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A new report by Korean publication The Elec says that Samsung is expected to offer the same camera sensors as the Galaxy S25, and this could be a big move in terms of keeping costs down, and not increasing them, considering other components have become costlier.

And that means that the S26 base could continue to offer a 50MP primary camera alongside a 12MP ultra-wide shooter and a 10MP 3x optical telephoto lens. And instead of the hardware side of things, Samsung could be forced to focus more on software and the gains that would result from the chipset upgrades.

The report says that Samsung wants to price the S26 right, especially considering how Apple has offered an aggressive deal with the iPhone 17, despite adding multiple upgrades like the 120Hz display and more.

So it could be interesting to see what the eventual pricing could be, but considering Samsung is backtracking on hardware additions, it could mean that the pricing remains similar to what the S25 series was offered at, which was ₹80,999 for the base S25. The S25 Plus came in at ₹99,999. The top-end S25 Ultra was available at ₹1,29,999.

Galaxy S26: Expected launch date

When it comes to the launch date, these plans could reportedly force Samsung to launch the S26 line-up in February next year and not the January launch that Samsung is typically known for.

What more could be in store for the S26 series? While the hardware upgrades might be minimal, leaks currently suggest that the S26 line-up could offer Qi2 charging like the Pixel 10 series and the iPhones, and Samsung may focus heavily on its official accessories, and Samsung cases may now feature magnetic inserts, which would enable things like magnetic charging and more.