Samsung Galaxy S26 review: Solid and reliable phone that fits in your pocket

Most of the time, when you hear the term "compact flagship," the mind automatically takes it as the stripped-down version of the main phone, and it then feels kind of a letdown. Usually, if you want a phone that doesn't feel like a literal brick in your jeans, you have to accept that the battery will probably die by the time you finish work. After spending the last few years reviewing the bigger Plus models, the S23 Plus and the S25 Plus, moving down to the standard Galaxy S26 felt like a massive relief. It is surprisingly compact in a world where every other phone is trying to be a 6.7-, 6.8- and these days even a 6.9-inch unit.

My point is, if you are tired of stretching your thumb just to reach the top of the screen, this 6.3-inch sized-phone is probably the best choice you can make right now. Here is my review of Samsung's latest compact flagship, the Galaxy S26.

Design: Small, light, and easy to handle

There is a very specific type of stress that comes with using a big phone while walking through a crowded place like Chandni Chowk. You are always one accidental bump away from watching a 1.5 lakh rupee device hit the pavement. Moving to the Galaxy S26 made me feel a lot more relaxed because of different reasons and one of them is its compact nature. And it weighs just about 167g, which is very light. For context, it is lighter than the iPhone 17. On paper, it still isn't as light as the older S25, but that is because Samsung finally put a bigger battery inside, which is a trade-off I will take any day of the week.

At just 7.2mm, the Galaxy S26 is quite slim too. I have been using the Cobalt Violet version, and I have to say, it looks really classy. It has a matte finish on the back that feels smooth but isn't slippery. The best part about this finish is that it doesn’t pick up fingerprints easily. I hate it when a premium phone looks greasy after five minutes of use but thankfully, this one stays clean.

The camera setup is different in the way it looks (inside it is all a do-over). On the older S25, the three cameras just sat there individually on the back. On the Galaxy S26, they are joined together in a single raised block. It looks okay, but there is one annoying thing - it makes the phone wobble. If you put it on a table and try to type, the phone rocks back and forth because that camera bump sticks out quite a bit.

As for the build, it uses an aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on both sides. I actually dropped it once by accident from my desk onto the floor, and luckily, it didn't get a single scratch. It is also rated IP68, which means it can handle dust and water. You don't have to worry if you get caught in the rain or if you accidentally spill a glass of water near it.

The buttons are exactly where you would expect them to be if you have used a Samsung before. The power button is easy to hit, though you might have to stretch just a little bit to reach the volume-up key. The fingerprint scanner is hidden under the screen, and typical in Galaxy S models, it is of the "ultrasonic" kind. This is great because it is fast, and it works even if your fingers are a bit sweaty or wet. No complaints at all.

Display: Great to look at, but missing one thing

The screen has grown just a tiny bit to 6.3 inches on the Galaxy S26. It doesn't sound like much, but when you see it next to the older model, the thinner borders around the screen make it look quite modern. It is still a Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and it is incredibly bright. Samsung says it goes up to 2,600 nits. In my experience, when the sun is directly overhead and hitting the screen, I was still able to read the content on the display without squinting.

Watching videos on this thing is also a lot of fun. I watched some fast-paced clips, and everything looked very smooth and vibrant. For instance, watching Sonic the Hedgehog on the Galaxy S26, lightning-fast sequences pop with bright, well-controlled highlights, while the blue tones stay rich and saturated without over-sharpening. Dark scenes hold strong contrast with clean shadow detail, so night shots don’t lose depth or look crushed. So, you can expect to see a bright panel with punchy colours and deep blacks. Speaking of which, the screen can go as dim as 1 nit. If you are someone who generally uses their phone in a pitch-black room before bed, your eyes will really appreciate how low the brightness can go.

However, I do have a complaint. Samsung has this really cool anti-reflective coating on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which makes the screen much easier to see indoors and out. For some reason, they once again decided not to put it on this base S26. Given that the price has gone up, I really think they should have included it. It feels like they are holding back a great feature just to make people buy the more expensive Ultra.

Otherwise, the screen on the Galaxy S26 is completely flat, and so are the sides of the phone. While this looks cool, I sometimes wish the edges were just a little bit curved. A flat frame can sometimes feel a bit sharp in the hand if you hold it for a long time, but since the phone is so small, it is not really a deal-breaker.

Performance: Dealing with the Exynos chip

If you live in the US, you get a Snapdragon chip. But here in India, we get Samsung's new 2nm Exynos 2600 chip. I know some people get worried when they hear "Exynos" because older versions used to get hot or slow down over time. But this time, it is actually quite decent.

I did some benchmark tests on the Galaxy S26 to see how it compares to last year's model:

-On Antutu (which tests overall power), it hit about 2.4 million. The Galaxy S25 was at 2.1 million.
-On Geekbench (which tests the processor), it got a score of 10,910.
-On 3D benchmarking platform, it received the best loop score of 7370 with a stability score of about 67 per cent. The older model got 5827 best loop score with 56 per cent stability, suggesting that the newer Samsung model is able to offer a much better gaming performance compared to the S25 for extended sessions.
-We saw about 24 per cent performance loss in the "CPU Throttle test" and about 33 per cent in the GPU test (3D Mark), which is not a bad score for a flagship phone when it comes to sustained performance.

In general, what do these numbers actually mean? It means the Galaxy S26 is fast. Apps open the moment you tap on them. I never saw it lag while switching between my regular apps like WhatsApp, X, Outlook, YouTube and Instagram. It handles everyday stuff without even trying.

When it comes to real-world gaming, I played Genshin Impact at "High" settings and 30fps, and it worked perfectly. No stutters, no issues. However, if you try to push it to the "Highest" settings at 60fps, the phone starts to struggle a bit during big fights. This is not surprising because other top-end phones in the market also struggle to offer a stable experience for a long time at the 60fps option. It gets warm and you will see the game start to skip frames. If you are more of a gamer who wants to play everything at the absolute maximum settings, you might want to look at the S26 Ultra, which has Qualcomm's top-end Snapdragon chip. Speaking of which, while Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 have given us slightly better scores with other Android flagships, I have seen many people still picking Samsung phones for offering a stable software experience with a lot of customisation options. It is not surprising, though. For most people, the Exynos 2600 should be more than enough.

One thing I like is that even when it gets warm during a long gaming session, it cools down very quickly the moment you stop. It doesn't stay hot in your pocket, which is a big improvement over some older Samsung phones.

Battery and charging: Finally, an improvement

This is the best part of the review. The Galaxy S26 is the only one of the three new Galaxy phones to get a bigger battery this year. It went from 4,000mAh to 4,300mAh. It doesn't sound like a huge jump, but in a small phone, it makes a real difference.

In my testing, which is just playing a Netflix show over Wi-Fi with the brightness turned all the way up for watching Vampire Diaries, the phone lasted almost 15 hours. That is a really solid result. Usually, by late afternoons, I wasn't constantly looking for a charger. The phone can actually last almost a day with basic use, which is a huge win for a compact phone.

But then we get to the charging, and this is where I get annoyed. Samsung is still using 25W charging for this model. There is no charger in the box, so you have to buy your own. Even if you use a powerful 45W Samsung plug, the phone will still only take what it needs, and it takes about an hour and 2 minutes to get to 100 per cent. For what it is worth, in 30 minutes, you will get to about 59 percent.

In a world where Chinese phone brands are giving you a full charge in 20 or 30 minutes, Samsung feels a little slow over here. It is also frustrating that the Galaxy S26 Plus and S26 Ultra charge faster than this one. I don't see why the base model has to be stuck with slow charging speeds in 2026. Wireless charging is also here, but it is just 15W, which is okay for charging overnight but not for a quick top-up.

Software: Seven years of support is a long time

The Galaxy S26 comes with Samsung's One UI 8.5 based on Android 16. The biggest selling point here is that this phone will receive software updates for seven years. That means security fixes and new versions of Android until 2033. This is solid in the long run for people who keep their phones for longer. Now, whether the hardware holds up for all these years is a different topic of discussion altogether.

Anyway, the One UI 8.5 software itself is very clean. Samsung has added a lot of AI stuff, which they call Galaxy AI. Some of it is actually quite useful. There is a feature called Photo Assist, which is basically Generative Edit, which we have come to see on steroids. It lets you move things around in a photo after you have taken it. If there is a random person in the background of your selfie, you can just circle them, and the AI will remove them and fill in the space. It is not perfect, but it is pretty cool.

There are also new features called Now Nudge and Now Brief. They basically try to help you out during the day. For example, if you have an appointment coming up, the phone will show you the relevant info you need right when you need it, without getting in the way. Practically speaking, the AI feature that I mostly used was the old AI Eraser option in the Gallery, which helps remove unnecessary things from a photo and it works perfectly 99 percent of times.

Camera performance

Cameras have always been one of Samsung's strong points and the S26 is no different in that case.

The device offered a strong and reliable daylight camera performance. In well-lit conditions, it captures plenty of detail with sharp textures visible in trees, buildings, and even finer elements like leaves and grass. Colours appear slightly vibrant but still natural, making scenes look lively without going overboard. Dynamic range is handled well too, as the phone manages to retain details in both bright skies and shaded areas, especially noticeable in the park and cityscape shots. Exposure control looks consistent, though in a few cases highlights lean slightly bright under harsh sunlight. But, the S26 mostly delivers crisp and balanced images in daylight.

The portrait performance looks impressive and well-balanced, too. The subject separation is clean, especially around tricky areas like hair and shoulders, with minimal edge bleeding. Background blur feels natural rather than overly artificial, and the falloff is smooth, giving a nice depth effect. Skin tones appear accurate and consistent across different shots, while facial details are retained well without excessive sharpening. Even in wider and full-body portraits, the camera maintains good subject focus and perspective. Overall, you can expect a reliable portrait camera experience that delivers sharp subjects, pleasing bokeh, and consistent colours, making it great for everyday social media shots.

Click any below image to access all the camera samples

Having said that, it offers a decent low-light and night photography performance. In challenging lighting, the camera captures bright enough exposures, controlled highlights, and average shadow detail. The neon lights of the claw machine and the colourful street market remain vibrant, while darker areas like the road and surrounding buildings still retain visible detail. Noise is well managed, and the camera maintains sharp textures. I just wish that the dynamic range could be a little better for a more balanced output.

Overall, though, you will get a reliable photography experience with the S26, which you can show off on your social media.

Samsung Galaxy S26: Should you buy it?

On a closing note, I would say the Galaxy S26 is a very good phone, but it is not perfect. The good stuff is easy to see. It is the perfect size for one-handed use, the screen is beautiful, and the battery life (for a compact phone and otherwise) is good enough that you don't have to worry about it constantly. It feels like a high-quality, premium flagship device that will last you for years to come. The camera performance is solid. If you are looking for a phone that gives you mesmerising shots in most scenarios with just a click, go for the S26 if you are looking for a compact phone.

The slow 25W charging feels out of date, and leaving the anti-reflective screen off this model feels like a missed opportunity. Also, while the Exynos 2600 chip is good, it is still not quite as powerful as S26 Ultra's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 when it comes to high-end gaming. Having said, none of this is a major dealbreaker.

At a starting price of Rs 87,999, the Galaxy S26 can sound a bit pricey. But if you want a small Android phone that does everything well and will stay updated for years, there aren't many other options that are this good. It is a solid, reliable choice that finally fixes the battery issues of the past. If you don't mind the slow charging, you will probably be very happy with it.