Samsung will, as expected, open the new year with a Galaxy Unpacked event, where the Galaxy S26 family will be unveiled. New details this week are bringing the shape of Samsung’s next wave of smartphones into focus, including the next-generation Galaxy S26 Ultra
Galaxy Unpacked And Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
2025’s Galaxy Unpacked launch event took place on Jan 22, while 2024’s took place on Jan 17. While past performance is no indication of future success, and the Galaxy S range does not have the regimented precision of the iPhone launching on the second Tuesday of September, the late January window for Galaxy Unpacked has been the norm for several years.
With Mobile World Congress taking place in February, there is a glut of smartphone and mobile technology press releases leading up to the event. By moving into January, Samsung can dominate the news cycle and, in its own way, steer the conversations around hardware and software to its advantage. That was notable in 2024 with the massive push for Galaxy AI, and in 2025, the Galaxy Edge form factor was introduced along with improvements to AI.
Details this week have pointed to Galaxy S26 production delays on the order of several weeks, which, if true, will push the release of the Galaxy S26 hardware back into February at a minimum. South Korean newspaper The Elec reports that mass production of the flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra will not commence until mid-January. Production on the mid-tier Galaxy S26+ and the vanilla Galaxy S26 would start in January.
Galaxy S26 Ultra And The Rest Of The Family
One of the most significant changes in the product mix is set to repeat last year’s pattern. Although the Galaxy S25 Edge was revealed at the January 2025 event, the fashionably thin smartphone did not arrive until the summer. While an S26 Edge has been planned, poor sales of the S25 variant have led to the decision to cancel the S26 Edge and refresh the Galaxy S25+ into the Galaxy S26+.
There’s also the potential for the entry-level Galaxy S26 to be rebranded the Galaxy S26 Pro to reflect the flagship-level performance, even if it does not reach the giddy heights of the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Galaxy S26 Ultra’s New Features
The hardware innovation last year in the Galaxy S25 Edge is unlikely to be repeated this year (the shrinking components and skill set will likely be evident when the presumptively named Galaxy Z Fold8 is released in the summer). Returning to The Classic Three points to more traditional spec sheet advances, including the camera lenses, battery life, and the all-important decision between running a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset or a home-grown Samsung Exynos.
The high-level updates to the recently launched Galaxy Tab S11, a slimmer design, reduced weight, and smaller bezel sizes are good pointers to what the Galaxy S26 family may bring to the table. I’d expect the strong push on Galaxy AI to continue. No matter which chipset is chosen, the ability to run more AI software locally should allow more personal experiences to come to the fore.
How long Samsung will push back the launch and release of the Galaxy S26 Ultra with the rest of the family should become clearer in the next few weeks.
