OFFICIAL The new Samsung Galaxy S26 phones have been launched. Unpleasant price surprise. When can they be bought in Romania and with what changes do they come compared to the previous generation

Samsung officially launched the new flagship Galaxy S26 series on Wednesday evening. The new models retain much of the design and configurations of the last generation, but there are changes for each of the three phones: Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26. Launch prices this year are, however, higher than last year.

Samsung Galaxy S26 – Release date in Romania

Samsung presented the new flagship Galaxy S26 series at the Unpacked event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The new models – Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 – will also be available in Romania starting on March 11.

While the new models don't bring big changes from the previous generation models, the launch prices for the new phones are higher than last year.

Samsung Galaxy S26 – Official prices in Romania

Thus, Samsung S26 (the 256 GB variant) costs from 5,100 lei, whereas the previous model started from 4,500 lei (that's right, the basic version last year was 128 GB). In the 512 GB version, the S26 costs 6,100 lei.

The larger model, Samsung Galaxy S26+ starts from 6,400 lei for the 256 GB variant (compared to 5,700 lei last year). The 512 GB variant will cost 7,400 lei.

top model, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra it will have a starting price of 7,400 lei, for the 256 GB variant (last year the price started from 7,200 lei).

The 512 GB variant costs 8,400 lei, and the 1TB variant also comes with 16 GB of RAM (compared to the standard 12 GB on the other models) and reaches a price of 9,950 lei.

Changes for the flagship model, the Galaxy S26 Ultra

The range-topping model gets the biggest changes from the previous generation, but not as many as many would have liked. Beyond the increased price, the new Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with the new octa-core Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (for Galaxy) processor, on a 3nm architecture and which promises better performance and increased efficiency.

The battery capacity remains the same (5,000 mAh), but Samsung has put on the Ultra model a faster wired charging speed of 60W (versus 45W before), as well as fast wireless charging (25W, Qi2.2 standard).

A change also comes to the dimensions, the new model becoming the thinnest Ultra model in Samsung's history, with only 7.9mm width at the edges (last year it was 8.2mm). However, the phone comes with a more pronounced “hump” in the camera area.

Also in terms of dimensions, the S26 Ultra appears to be lighter (214 grams vs. 218 grams previously), but the change also comes with a sacrifice: the phone frame is now made of aluminum (Armor Aluminum 3), and is no longer made of titanium like last year.

Privacy Screen

The top model, the Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with an innovation that could be an attractive point for many people: the possibility for the screen to darken automatically when viewed from side angles, offering at the hardware and software level the same effect as some glass protective screens that are applied over the display.

But Samsung, through its “Privacy Screen” offers additional functionality, such as the ability to activate the function only in certain applications or individually on the alerts and notifications that appear on the screen.

Changes for the Galaxy S26 and S26+ models

Beyond the higher prices, the two Galaxy S26 and S26+ models come with a major differentiation from the big brother S26 Ultra in terms of processor. For the European market, the S26 and S26+ come with Samsung's own Exynos 2600 processor, a deca-core processor which, however, in the first tests, appears very close in results to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

For the smallest model – the Galaxy S26 – the screen diagonal increases slightly, from 6.2 inches to 6.3 inches, but – more importantly – the battery capacity increases from 4,000 mAh to 4,300 mAh, keeping almost the same dimensions as last year. Battery charging, however, remains limited to 25W wired and 20W wireless.

The S26+ doesn't get a bigger 4,900mAh battery like last year, but instead gets access to faster 25W wireless charging technology. On the wire, the charging remains the same, at 45W.

Specifications for the new Samsung Galaxy S26 phones

Samsung Galaxy S26 (Base Model)

• Screen: 6.3-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, adaptive refresh 1-120Hz, brightness 2,600 nits
• Processor: Exynos 2600 (deca-core, 2nm)
• Memory RAM: 12 GB
• storage: 256GB / 512GB
• Battery: 4,300 mAh (25W wired charging, 20W wireless)
• Rooms: 50MP F1.8 (Main), 12MP F2.2 (Ultrawide), 10MP F2.4(Telephoto 3x)
• Construction: aluminum frame (Armor Aluminum 2), front glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), back glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), IP68
• size: 149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mm, 167 grams, IP68
• Starting price: 5,099 lei
• colors: White, Black, Sky Blue, Cobalt Violet

Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus

• Screen: 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, adaptive refresh, brightness 2,600 nits1-120Hz
• Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (octa-core, 3nm) / Exynos 2600 (deca-core, 2nm)
• Memory RAM: 12 GB
• storage: 256GB / 512GB
• Battery: 4,900 mAh (45W charging, 25W wireless charging)
• Rooms: 50MP F1.8 (Main), 12MP F2.2 (Ultrawide), 10MP F2.4(Telephoto 3x)
• Construction: aluminum frame (Armor Aluminum 2), front glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), back glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), IP68
• size: 158.4 x 75.8 x 7.23mm, 190 grams, IP68
• Starting price: 6,399 lei
• colors: White, Black, Sky Blue, Cobalt Violet

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

• Screen: 6.9-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, QHD+, adaptive refresh 1-120Hz (S-Pen included), brightness 2,600 nits
• Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (exclusive)
• Memory RAM: 12/16GB
• storage: 256GB / 512GB / 1TB
• Battery: 5,000 or 5,500 mAh (60W wired charging, 25W wireless charging)
• Rooms: 200MP F1.4 (main sensor), 50MP F2.9 (Zoom periscope), 50MP F1.9 (Ultrawide), 10MP F2.4 (Telephoto 3x)
• Construction: aluminum frame (Armor Aluminum 3), front glass (Gorilla Glass Armor 2), back glass (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), IP68
• size: 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9 mm, 214 grams,
• Starting price: 7,399 lei
• colors: White, Black, Sky Blue, Cobalt Violet