Today’s the day we expect to see Samsung unveil its next generation of flagship Galaxy S-series phones, likely leading with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
The first Galaxy Unpacked of the year will kick off today (that’s February 25) at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (for Australians, that’s 5am AEDT on the 26th). TechRadar will be covering the event live, with our own Hamish Hector being boots on the ground in San Francisco for the big showcase.
Samsung Galaxy S26 launch live blog
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Have your say!
It’s poll time, and I want to know what you’re most looking forward to seeing from the Galaxy S26 series at today’s Galaxy Unpacked event.
Wondering where on earth this mystical poll is? Just scroll up and you’ll find it just before the live stream YouTube video.
The early bird catches the worm (if worm is code for double storage)
While we’re still waiting for Samsung to officially take the covers off its “latest Galaxy smartphones”, if you pre-order the devices ahead of their release date, Samsung will give you 512GB of storage for the price of 256GB.
That’s a saving of £170 in the UK, but this promotion isn’t available everywhere. I’m not seeing the double storage pre-order off on the US or Australia pages.
Oh, and we’re now just four hours from the start of the event. Lovely.
- Read more: You’ll be able to double your storage with Samsung Galaxy S26 pre-orders — but only in some regions
Want to watch live?
Galaxy Unpacked February 2026: Official Livestream – YouTube
Let’s make this fun, folks. I’ll be at the London launch event today to bring you all the news and analysis as it happens, but why not join me and tune in yourself from home, or at the office, or from the beach if you’re fortunate enough to be sunning yourself on the sand?
I’ve even made it really easy for you, as there’s the live stream video just above.
A reminder, the show starts at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT.
- Read more: How to watch Galaxy Unpacked on February 25 — and what to expect
Is this the end for the S Pen?
Something which struck me during the Galaxy S25 launch was the almost complete absence of the S Pen. Samsung’s iconic stylus – which debuted on the Galaxy Note in 2011 – wasn’t mentioned, and appeared in just one image during the event. It led me to ponder whether it could be the end for the stylus.
Well, we’re just hours away from finding out if the S Pen is about to enter retirement, or whether it lives to fight another day.
- Read more: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could be the S Pen’s last dance
Will we get a ‘one more thing’ moment?
Last year Samsung teased us with our first look at the slimline Galaxy S25 Edge and a silhouette of the Galaxy Z TriFold. It gave the launch event some extra juice, and I’m wondering if there will be a similar reveal this time round.
While I was at CES in Las Vegas last month, I got the chance to try the latest software on Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset. While the experience was a positive one, browsing the web and flying over the earth to different locations weren’t exactly revolutionary.
What I’d really like to see is a first look at the Android XR smart glasses, which Samsung said during an earnings call last month, will land this year.
I want brilliant battery life
I was impressed with the OnePlus 15 and its HUGE 7,300mAh battery when I used it as my personal phone for a few weeks earlier this year. This is a phone with huge amounts of power, a large display, and can actually last two days (and sometimes longer than that) with actual usage.
In our review, we said “this phone beats everything by hours and hours – it lasted almost three days in my real world testing. Also it charges super fast, if you ever need to charge it.”
The bar has been set, Samsung. Can you beat it?
- Read more: Our in-depth OnePlus 15 review
I’m hoping for more photo AI mastery
So what am I looking forward to today? Well, a feature which really stood out to me at last years Galaxy S25 launch was the improvements Samsung had made to its Object Eraser tool. It wipes the floor with Google’s eraser tool, and many others I’ve tried.
So this year I’m hoping to see more AI wizardry that makes a clear, positive impact and – most importantly – is easy to use with minimal explanation.
- Read more: The Samsung Galaxy S25 series comes good on an AI promise eight years in the making
Hey everybody!
John here, ready to take you through today’s Samsung launch event. I appreciate you joining us, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.
It’s another year, and another major Samsung launch to get the whole tech industry warmed up for the onslaught of exciting new devices, services and features in the coming months.
And just so we’re clear, Roland has been extremely generous by digging out that rather old photo of me. I look less fresh-faced these days, but the energy levels are still here. LET’S GO.
And speaking of tech luminaries, I’m about to hand over this live blog to John McCann, a former Global Managing Editor at TechRadar, a phones specialist, a decent chap, and a man who often rocks a serious head of hair.
I’ve known John for a decade or so (!) and so I think I’ll be leaving this blog in good hands, while I go and write up some interesting things I’ve see… make sure to keep your browser locked on TechRadar.
Speaking of Mr Ulanoff, he’s usually at Galaxy Unpacked but unfortunately the snow in New York has meant he’s not been able to escape the Big Apple to get to San Francisco.
TriFold teasing?
Moving outside of the Galaxy S-series phones, I’m hoping we hear a little more about the Galaxy TriFold today, such as its capabilities and any software features.
Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff went hands-on with the Galaxy TriFold and was suitably impressed, so I’m hoping we see more about what this big foldable can do.
All that being said, with some emulation Cyberpunk 2077 can be made to run on current smartphones.
Cyberpunk 2077 On An Android Phone! PC Emulation Is Getting GOOD! – YouTube
But my Galaxy gaming ambitions might be a bit far fetched, as Microsoft pushes smartphone gaming via Xbox Cloud Gaming as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
I say this a lot, but I’d be quite keen on some form of gaming upgrade for the Galaxy S26 series.
I mean, I’m more of a fan of the Android experience on Google’s Pixel phones. But I’ve come to accept Samsung’s One UI and its approach to color science when it comes to phone photography.
I’m racking my brain for what other upgrades I’d like to see from the Galaxy S26 series.
I’ve never been madly obsessed with privacy, and don’t go in for tin-foil hat conspiracies.
Pushing privacy
One cool upgrade the Galaxy S26 Ultra is tipped to bring to the table is a so-called ‘Privacy Display’.
Supposedly this is a built in feature that can be used to make the screen appear dark and unreadable to sideways and over-the-shoulder snoopers.If such a feature works well it could be a neat USP for the S26 Ultra.
Or Samsung has just got a bit boring…
Equally, 70% of you told me you’re not hyped about the Galaxy S26, which signals to me that there’s not a huge amount of interest in what’s likely to be one of the best phones of 2026.
I actually think the Galaxy S26 series could be one of the most iterative generations of Android smartphones ever.
Speaking of upgrades, going by some of the top Galaxy S26 rumors, I’m not expecting the Galaxy S26 Ultra or its smaller predicted siblings to be very different from the Galaxy S25 series.
Further to that, Samsung has previously boosted the vapor chamber cooling system on its most flagship of phones, so I’d expect the same for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
But with a new chipset expected, and surely some improvements on power efficiency and cooling, I’d very much hope the Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn’t run to hot.
Now I’d take the the below news with a degree of skepticism, as even if everything is legit, pre-release phones aren’t likely to be running the latest software and optimizations to get the best out of them.
Beep! Beep! news just in: The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has been leaked in a hands-on video, and it runs worryingly hot!
Samsung S26 Ultra First Impression – স্যামসাং কি অ্যাপলের পথেই হাঁটছে! – YouTube
Phones, lots of phones
RIght so what’s the rundown? Well in simple terms expect to see a suite of new Galaxy S-series phones.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra will surely lead the charge as the main phone, followed by the Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26.
Hello there! This is Managing Editor of Phones, Roland Moore-Colyer here to take you through some of the run up to today’s Galaxy Unpacked.
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