C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung reportedly intends to replace the Galaxy S26 Plus with the S26 Edge next year.
- It’s believed Samsung has started development on the S26 series and that it consists of the standard, Edge, and Ultra models.
- This would likely be a downgrade in several ways, as the current Edge model sacrifices features and battery capacity in the name of thinness.
Samsung has just launched the Galaxy S25 Edge, and it’s the thinnest Galaxy S phone we’ve ever seen. It looks like Samsung is already working on a successor, and it might replace the S26 Plus.
The Elec reports that Samsung is “highly likely” to replace the S26 Plus with the S26 Edge next year. Multiple Samsung component suppliers told the outlet that the Galaxy maker had started work on the S26 series and that it consists of the standard S26, S26 Edge, and S26 Ultra. The project is unsurprisingly said to be in the early stages of development.
However, a source told The Elec that sales of the newly launched Galaxy S25 Edge will be a key factor:
If sales of the Galaxy S25 Edge are sluggish, Samsung Electronics may develop the S26 series into three models: the regular, plus, and ultra as before.
The outlet reported that Samsung shipped 37.7 million Galaxy S25 series units so far but the S25 Plus only accounted for 6.7 million units. By contrast, the regular model shipped 13.6 million units, while the S25 Ultra accounted for 17.4 million units. In other words, it’s clear that the Galaxy S25 Plus is the least popular Galaxy S25 series model.
However, I’m not sure an Edge model is the answer. The Galaxy S25 Edge offers a much smaller battery than the S25 Plus, along with much slower wired charging speeds and no telephoto camera. The Edge device does bring a 200MP main camera, improved protective glass, and a thinner design, though. So we wouldn’t be surprised if the S26 Edge is more of the same in this regard.
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard about a brand dropping a Plus phone for a slim model. Apple is also widely tipped to drop its iPhone 17 Plus in favor of the slim iPhone 17 Air.
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