The wait for the next era of Android is over — or at least, the date is set. Samsung has officially broken its silence, confirming that Galaxy Unpacked 2026 will take place on Feb. 25.

While the physical curtains will rise in San Francisco, the digital launch is set for 2 a.m. Philippine Time on Feb. 26, broadcast live across Samsung.com, the Samsung Newsroom, and YouTube. This announcement marks the company’s first official acknowledgment of the Galaxy S26 series, with an invitation promising a device that makes your life easier through “personal and adaptive” artificial intelligence.

Samsung’s invitation explicitly brands this release as “The Next AI Phone,” signaling a shift from merely having AI features to being built around them. The goal? To remove friction from everyday tasks and ensure Galaxy AI feels seamlessly integrated from the moment it’s in hand.

But while the official news is about AI, the unofficial news is about the raw power needed to run it. A leak from German outlet WinFuture has seemingly stripped away the mystery, revealing nearly every spec of the upcoming lineup. The report details a significant divergence in hardware strategies for the global market, with Android 16 layered with One UI 8.5 expected to be the vessel for the “frictionless” AI features teased in the invitation.

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Samsung Galaxy S26 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus

For those eyeing the standard models, the story this year is about efficiency and display resilience. According to the leak, both the 6.3-inch Galaxy S26 and the 6.7-inch Galaxy S26 Plus will be protected by the new Corning Gorilla Armor 2, a significant durability upgrade for the Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels. Under the hood, these global variants are expected to run on Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 chipset, a 10-core beast built on a cutting-edge 2nm process designed to rival the efficiency of its competitors.

And say goodbye to memory anxiety. The South Korean tech giant is reportedly standardizing 12GB of RAM across the entire lineup, eliminating the 8GB bottlenecks of previous years. Storage options will range from 256GB to 512GB.

While the camera hardware remains familiar — a 50-megapixel main shooter, a 10-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide — the real breakthrough may lie in the Exynos chip’s enhanced image signal processing, unlocking faster and sharper visuals.

Battery life sees a mixed bag of updates. The base S26 gets a slight bump to 4,300mAh, while the Plus sits at 4,900mAh. However, fast charging for the smaller model remains stuck at 25 watts, while the Plus enjoys the faster 45-watt standard.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a different beast entirely, seemingly designed to justify its “Ultra” moniker with brute force. The leak suggests this model will exclusively feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, an octa-core chip clocking up to a blistering 4.74 GHz. This is the engine likely driving the most advanced on-device AI features Samsung has to offer. The display is a 6.9-inch QHD+ canvas, also shielded by Gorilla Armor 2, making it one of the largest and toughest screens in the category.

Photography enthusiasts get the most toys here. The Ultra is listed with a refreshed 200-megapixel main sensor boasting a wider f/1.4 aperture, which should drastically improve low-light performance. It is flanked by a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens and two telephoto cameras: a 10-megapixel shooter for 3x zoom and a high-resolution 50-megapixel periscope lens for 5x optical zoom. To keep this powerhouse running, Samsung has equipped it with a 5,000mAh battery and, for the first time, upgraded the wired charging speed to 60 watts, finally breaking the 45-watt ceiling of its predecessors.

Expected global pricing

The report indicates the Samsung Galaxy S26 will start at €999 (roughly ₱69,335 or $1,190), with the Galaxy S26 Plus launching at €1,269 (₱88,058 or $1,512). As for the top-tier flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to cost at least €1,469 (₱101,919 or $1,750). Note that these are starting prices; expect to dig deeper if you want higher storage configurations this year.

Philippine availability and preorder perks

With the date set, the countdown for perks has begun. Samsung Philippines has opened a dedicated registration page at samsung.com/ph/unpacked, offering an exclusive e-voucher for those who sign up.

This promo runs until Feb. 25, effectively closing right before the livestream begins. If you are planning to upgrade to the S26, registering now secures a discount on select Galaxy ecosystem products later.

Local telcos Smart Communications and Globe Telecom have already joined the hype train, posting teasers that align with the “frictionless” messaging, suggesting that preorder bundles are imminent.

Sources: WinFuture and Evan Blass

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