If, after yesterday’s Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung Galaxy S26 buyers were hoping to get twice the amount of storage for free, I have some bad news for you. Well, that depends on where you live. For buyers in the U.S., there’s no free storage upgrade. Shoppers in the U.K., however, have been given a far more generous offer.
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No Double Storage Package Confirmed for U.S.-Based Samsung Galaxy S26 Buyers
Leaks have long suggested that Samsung Galaxy S26 pricing was likely to increase, which turned out to be accurate. Samsung execs were open about this at CES earlier this year and blamed price rises on the global memory chip shortage. What we didn’t know was whether the Korean company would bring back its double storage deal, which gifts double the amount of storage, for free, to those who pre-order.
In the U.S., that has now been dropped for the pre-order period. American Samsung Galaxy S26 customers who buy the 256GB model won’t get a free bump up to the 512GB storage option.
To compensate, Samsung has boosted trade-in values and offered an additional $50 off if the code PAYPAL50 is used at checkout. There is also a $150 store credit offer (note: not $150 off the final price) if no phone is traded in.
Last year’s Galaxy S25 pre-order offer included the double storage discount, which was worth $120 if you bought the 256GB Galaxy S25 Ultra, alongside up to $900 in trade-in value. That has now been replaced with a more credit-focused incentive that totals $200. This consists of $150 in store credit and only $50 in an actual price reduction. Crucially, if you opt for the $150 store credit, you are ineligible to trade in your old phone.
To me this is a worse offer. Instead of saving $120 on the phone itself, shoppers can now only spend that value on Samsung accessories, while losing their option to trade-in if they take the store credit. Combined with the price hike, this year’s pre-order promotion looks notably worse than last year.
U.K. Samsung Galaxy S26 Buyers Have A Better Upfront Offer
If you’re in the U.K., however, the double storage offer is in effect, which is worth £170 ($229). There’s also a further £100 ($134) off the flagship if it’s bought with PayPal and the code PAYPAL is used at checkout. This is alongside up to £697 ($940) in trade-in value when buying the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
While there is no store credit if no phone is traded in, the upfront promotion—getting more hardware for less money—is significantly better than the Samsung U.S. offer. It’s not uncommon for Samsung to restrict the double storage package to select countries, but excluding the U.S. is a huge blow for American shoppers and reflects the severity of the memory chip crisis that is forcing manufacturers into raising hardware prices.
Despite the better upfront offer in the U.K., it is let down by trade-in prices. British shoppers get less for their used phones across the board. For example, with realistic trade-ins, Samsung U.K. will pay £173 ($233) for a 256GB Galaxy S22 Ultra compared to the $500 U.S. price for any storage capacity.
It’s the same for the 256GB Galaxy S23 Ultra at £312 (£420) against the $650 U.S. price. The U.K. wins on pre-order perks, but the U.S. remains the king of trade-in prices.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Price Strategy Hints At 2026 Hardware Price Rises
The U.S. is one of Samsung’s biggest markets and the cost of giving away free storage upgrades, in the midst of a memory chip shortage, must have been too steep a price to pay for whatever customers it incentivizes to purchase a Samsung Galaxy S26. Samsung has clearly threaded the needle carefully to ensure there are some decent pre-order offers, while keeping its promotions generous in other markets that don’t significantly dent its bottom line.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 is the first major smartphone launch of the year and the first big tech hardware release so far. If the RAM shortage continues, Samsung raising prices and axing money-saving promotions could be a harbinger for the remaining major device launches this year from Apple, Google, Steam, and others.
