Here is what I need Samsung’s subsequent flagships to do in another way

I used to look ahead to Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked occasion with pleasure, ready to see the place the corporate was going to push its telephones to subsequent. However over the previous few years, that enthusiasm waned and ultimately become skepticism.

With the launch of the Galaxy S26 sequence, I really feel significantly underwhelmed. I’ve come to the conclusion that the corporate must make some critical modifications to its line-up to regain my curiosity in its flagships.

Samsung’s flagships are critically lagging behind the competitors on the subject of battery dimension. A lot of this comes all the way down to the corporate’s hesitation to undertake silicon-carbon batteries, which might permit for increased vitality density.

The S26 Extremely nonetheless comes with a 5,000mAh battery — a capability that has remained the identical because the S20 Extremely. To place that in perspective, it implies that since Samsung launched the Extremely tier of its Galaxy S gadgets, it has not elevated the battery dimension.

Relating to the usual S26 and S26 Plus, Samsung has elevated the battery capability over time. However even this progress is minimal. It’s baffling to me that from the S23 Plus to the S26 Plus, the battery has solely elevated by 200mAh.

I don’t assume Samsung can depend on hesitation to make use of silicon-carbon batteries as an excuse, despite the fact that it’s rumored to be researching bigger Si-C cells. The Pixel 10a, for instance, has a 5,100mAh battery and prices $400 lower than the usual S26, which has a 4,300mAh battery. If Samsung must make its telephones marginally thicker, that’s a trade-off I’d be keen to make.

There was a time when it felt like Samsung’s flagship vary was well-balanced when it comes to options. Over the previous few years, although, the main focus has undoubtedly shifted. Whereas AI and software program have change into the headliners of latest launches, each time {hardware} is talked about, the main focus is often on the Extremely. The usual and Plus variations of the Galaxy S telephones have change into little greater than a footnote.

Wanting on the S26 vs the S23 sequence exhibits simply how little the gadgets have modified in three years. Each the S26 and S26 Plus have the identical charging speeds as their S23 counterparts. Relating to the digital camera setups, there have been no modifications to the decision or optical zoom of the lenses. I discover myself underwhelmed by the S26 Extremely digital camera updates, however at the very least I can say that its digital camera is getting updates.

Because of this, upper-midrange rivals usually outcompete the S26 and S26 Plus on many fronts, particularly in battery dimension and charging velocity. Final 12 months’s Nothing Telephone 3a Professional launched at $459.99, making it cheaper than an ordinary S26. But it features a 5,000mAh battery, 50W wired charging, a 50MP periscope digital camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 50MP front-facing digital camera. I’ve been utilizing the Honor 400 Professional for the previous few months, and regardless of not being a flagship, it additionally includes a 50MP telephoto lens. In the meantime, it has a 6,000mAh battery and 100W wired charging.

Even inside Samsung’s personal ecosystem, the Galaxy S25 FE has additionally change into the go-to system for folks in search of flagship options at a greater worth. Because it provides a greater worth and comparable specs to the S26, I battle to see the S26’s attraction anymore. Why would you not merely anticipate the S26 FE, which can presumably even have an up to date processor and extra RAM?

This wasn’t all the time the case, although. The usual Galaxy S system was a succesful flagship for individuals who needed an important expertise in a smaller bundle. It was nonetheless decidedly premium, however provided worth for cash. The Plus gave you a little bit of a lift to battery capability, storage, and display dimension. And the Extremely was the ultra-premium choice for individuals who wanted a extremely nice digital camera and much more battery and processing energy.

I’m glad that Samsung has improved the apertures on its S26 Extremely digital camera lenses (particularly the 200MP and 50MP lenses), as it will improve its low-light pictures efficiency. Nevertheless, I believe that extra enhancements might be made to the lenses, particularly on the subject of optical zoom.

I’ve by no means fairly forgiven Samsung for eradicating the 10x optical zoom from the Extremely rear digital camera. I simply by no means get the outcomes I’d like when cropping to realize “optical high quality” zoom (which is basically a sensor crop) versus precise optical zoom at lengthy vary. This “optical high quality” advertising and marketing has popped up for different lenses on the gadgets as properly. On the S26 Extremely, its 200MP broad lens can be listed as having 2x optical high quality zoom. For the S26 and S26 Plus, the 50MP wide-angle lens additionally claims 2x optical zoom.

I’d want precise optical zoom, in addition to a higher vary throughout lenses. For the successors to the S26 and S26 Plus, 5x optical zoom might actually improve the consumer expertise. In the meantime, I’d prefer to see the return of 10x optical zoom to the subsequent Extremely, whereas nonetheless retaining an excellent decision.

However that is the naked minimal, actually. Samsung ought to actually be on the forefront of digital camera innovation, particularly with the S26 Extremely. In spite of everything, for those who’re paying $1,299 for a smartphone, it ought to actually be a frontrunner on the digital camera entrance.

The Xiaomi 17 Extremely stands out as presumably the most effective Android digital camera telephone, because of its revolutionary digital camera expertise. This features a variable-aperture, variable-focal-length periscope digital camera and a big sensor. This provides a ton of versatility that may be misplaced when multi-lens setups embody low-quality lenses that up the digital camera rely however produce inconsistent high quality.

The battery capability of the S26 sequence isn’t the one factor caught up to now — its charging speeds are too.

The one system within the sequence to get a lift to its charging velocity is the S26 Extremely, which now helps 60W charging. Whereas that is an enchancment on paper, it’s lengthy overdue. So overdue the truth is, that it’s nonetheless behind the competitors.

Samsung smartphones use the USB PD PPS protocol, however different gadgets that use the identical protocol already exceed the charging speeds of the S26 Extremely. The prime instance is the Xiaomi 17 Extremely, which helps 90W PD PPS charging.

This leaves a number of room for enchancment for Samsung’s gadgets. The usual S26, specifically, is caught with 25W charging, which ends up in extremely sluggish charging occasions for a flagship system in 2026.

Because the Galaxy S24 sequence, Samsung’s flagship launches have centered on AI. When generative AI was nonetheless comparatively new, it was attention-grabbing to check out the totally different options. Nevertheless, it quickly turned obvious that many didn’t meaningfully enhance the consumer expertise.

The S25 and S26 launches leaned much more into AI. This included selling Google options, which sometimes arrive on Galaxy gadgets first or concurrently Pixel gadgets. However this partnership with Google is just not unique, so the instruments find yourself on different Android telephones as properly. Simply take a look at Circle to Search, which launched first on Galaxy and Pixel telephones however is nearly all over the place now. Likewise, the Discover The Look characteristic in Circle to Search will arrive on the Galaxy S26 sequence and Pixel 10 smartphones first, however will roll out to different Android gadgets too.

For options particular to Samsung gadgets, you’re required to lean closely on Samsung’s ecosystem. But when you have already got most well-liked apps to your web shopping and reminders, you could not see the attraction of switching to Samsung-exclusive apps for only a few AI options.

The newer deal with agentic AI additionally doesn’t attraction to me, since I fear about potential privateness points. I don’t assume Samsung gives enough assurances that knowledge will stay protected when utilizing these AI instruments.

Don’t get me fallacious, I need to get excited by Samsung’s flagship telephones. They’re the most important Android model by market share. However I don’t really feel like they’re the leaders when it comes to making the greatest Android telephones anymore.

Whereas the S26 Extremely’s Privateness Show is nifty, it doesn’t really feel groundbreaking to me. And it’s definitely not sufficient to encourage me to put money into a $1,299 new telephone. I actually hope that subsequent 12 months will probably be totally different and we’ll see important {hardware} innovation from the producer.