The Galaxy S26 Series is Here

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 happens at 1PM EST / 10AM PST, and while I don’t know exactly what the company has to show this year, it’s probably going to be the Samsung Galaxy S26 lineup.

Every year, Samsung kicks things off early with an Unpacked event where it shows off its new lineup of flagship phones. And while we’re almost in March right now, it’s pretty safe to assume that this is going to be that Unpacked – even if it’s a month later than it’d usually be.

If you want to watch along, you can tune in on Samsung’s YouTube channel or on its website, or you can just stay tuned here, and I’ll keep this article updated with Samsung’s announcements as they happen.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Specs

At Unpacked, Samsung launched three new phones, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26 Plus and the S26. While the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the big flagship of this generation, powered by the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC, the rest of the lineup is nothing to shake a stick at. I went ahead and listed out the specs of all three phones here.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 Live Blog

2:06PM: And that’s a wrap. We got the Samsung Galaxy S26, S26 Plus and S26 Ultra, along with the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro. The very last thing on the screen was the Galaxy AI logo, and that really just says everything you need to know about these devices. While the cameras look incredible, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 looks like it’ll be a powerful chip, Samsung is continuing to lean in hard on AI. Agentic AI is the name of the game this year, and only time will tell whether or not that’ll be the security risk that my gut says it is.

2:02PM: Samsung is capping off the show by reiterating its dedication to making its products more sustainable. Samsung is deepening is commitment to the environment, which means more recycled plastics and working to add more water to the planet than it consumes.

1:57PM: The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro will be available March 11, starting at $179 for the Buds 4 and $249 for the Buds 4 Pro. The Buds 4 Pro will come in Black, White and an online-exclusive Pink Gold, while the basic Buds will come in Black and White.

1:55PM: Apparently you can just talk to the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro to wake your Agentic AI agent. Does that mean they’re always listening?

1:50PM: And here are the Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro. They look a lot different than 2024’s Buds 3. They look a lot more like AirPods Pro, where the Buds 3 had kind of a sci-fi look. That’s kind of the vibes for the S26, as well, very iPhone-coded.

These earbuds have better woofers, with a 20% larger vibration area, which should result in deeper bass. The tweeter is apparently also enhanced. These are both powered spperately by a new dual amplifier. Combined, the Galaxy Buds 4 is capable of 24-bit / 96 KHz audio, which should be good news for any audiophiles who might be using bluetooth earbuds for whatever reason.

1:48PM: The Samsung Galaxy S26 series will be available for preorder on March 11, with the S26 Ultra costing $1299, the S26 Plus costing $1,099 and the S26 starting at $899.

1:44PM: It looks like the AI photo editor features are a bit more capable now, I’ll be testing this once I get the S26 Ultra in-hand. Thankfully, Samsung is tagging all AI generated content, so you’ll know when AI has been used. Honestly more AI platforms should be doing this, but at least Samsung is.

1:42PM: You can shoot up to 8K on the S26 Ultra, and to help with the insane file sizes that’d come with that, Samsung will let you shoot directly to an external SSD. That means you shouldn’t have to spend extra just to get a 1TB phone, because you can get a 1TB external drive instead, which should be much more affordable.

1:37PM: Now Samsung is going to talk about the cameras. Apparently every shot on the S26 series is “social media ready”, so it sounds like there’s going to be heavier post processing being done on the phone. It looks like the cameras should be a little better at handline low-light photography.

1:31PM: It looks like Samsung is going to make the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display more private. There’s now a Privacy Mode, you can turn on to make your display harder to see from other angles. What’s cool about this being a mode, rather than just a film that you put on top, is that you can turn it off when you’re showing people stuff on your phone. Pretty cool stuff! It can also hide specific notifications, so you don’t have to worry about an embarrassing message popping up when you’re around friends.

1:29PM: Of course, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a vapor chamber! It made absolutely no difference in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but hey, maybe the S26 Ultra will be different!

1:28PM: Now we’re talking about the SoC. The S26 Ultra has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 with a 39% more powerful NPU and a 19% faster CPU. Samsung claims this chip has 17% better ray tracing performance, which Samsung claims is “console-level” gaming performance.

1:23PM: Sameer Samat, the President of the Android Ecosystem at Google has taken the stage, talking about how Android is moving from an “Operating System” to an “Intelligence System”. Ok then! Having some AI features doesn’t stop it from being an OS, but go off I guess. The example he’s using is having Gemini look at a text thread, pulling his family’s pizza preferences to build an order for him.

1:20PM: Samsung is introducing “Keep” a suite of security features to keep the data needed for all of these AI features secure. On-device information is secured in its Knox processor, which keeps things secure, and for information processed in the cloud, Samsung claims it’s deleted as soon as an answer is delivered. I hope that’s true!

1:18PM: Apparently AI is just as big of an innovation as mobile hardware and apps. I don’t know about that.

1:16PM: I’m not sure I’m comfortable with Galaxy AI reading my text conversations in real time, even if it’s just to find relevant photos or reservations to the conversation. It might save me some time, I guess, but it sounds like a security nightmare. I really hope I can turn these features off.

1:14PM: From the Perplexity symbol at the bottom of the Galaxy AI screen there, it looks like they’re partnering with Perplexity again with the S26 Ultra. I wonder if it’ll come with another 1-year trial of Perplexity Pro.

1:11PM: Galaxy AI is going to take information from your messages and emails and give you reminders. The example they used on stage is reminding you about a dinner reservation that you forgot to put on your calendar. What’s actually useful, though, is that you can ask the new Bixby about settings on your phone. There are a lot of on-device AI assistants that suddenly have no idea what they’re doing when you ask them how to change something on the phone. If this actually works – which I’ll be testing when I get my hands on the S26 Ultra – that’d be huge.

1:08PM: The new Galaxy S26 Ultra is apparently the “Agentic AI phone”. Agentic AI apps have been a bit of a security nightmare, so unless a lot of the processing is being done on that new “co-designed chip” is very powerful, I’ll have my questions. But, hey, at least it still has the S-Pen!

1:05PM: TM Roh, CEO and Head of Device Experience Division has taken the stage, to well, um, set the stage for Unpacked. He is claiming that AI is getting to the point where it needs to become infrastructure. Samsung is trying to make this tech more accessible, but in my experience on the last few Galaxy devices, the AI features have been largely pointless gimmicks. I’d be interested to see what the company can do to make the tech as useful as they try to tell us it is.

1:01PM: Got our first glimpse of the S26 Ultra, and a kid turned it into a little fairy. Now that’s what I call recycling.

1:00PM: And here we go! Samsung Unpacked has officially started. Get ready to see whatever it is Samsung has to offer this year. The company spent most of the time leading up to the actual show talking about how it’s helping the world, so expect that same energy throughout the showcase here.

12:50PM: Samsung is apparently using the Olympic Games to showcase its technology. Really, it just looks like the phones are being used to film backstage footage. Although, there were a couple rigs shown that have a Galaxy phone clamped under a professional camera – maybe they’re shooting on both?

And of course, Samsung is using this spot to promote AI features, especially live translation – which is actually pretty useful.

12:45PM: 15 minutes out from Unpacked officially starting, Samsung’s stream just reiterated the company’s dedication to using recycled materials, especially in its packaging.

12:30PM: Unpacked officially kicks off in about 30 minutes. While this is an annual show, and I have a pretty good idea of what the new Galaxy phones will be able to do, I’m still excited to see what they can do. I’m pretty sure the phones are going to lean pretty heavily into AI, too.

What to Expect From Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026

It’s pretty safe to assume that beyond the Galaxy S26 – in, presumbly, a range of incarnations – Samsung will have an extra thing or two for us at the show. While there have been rumors about a new wide form factor for its foldables, those are usually saved for the company’s summer Unpacked event. Instead, the extras will probably be some sort of wearable.

Samsung refreshed its Galaxy Watch in July, alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7, so it’s probably too early to get the Galaxy Watch 9. Instead, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro launched all the way back in summer 2024, so it’s much more likely that those are going to be refreshed.