• Samsung is reportedly giving up on small-screen foldables
• That means the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 8 could be the last in the series
• It's a credible claim, but if enough people vote with their wallet perhaps the Flip line can still be saved

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 is a superb phone, achieving 4.5 stars in our review. But despite its excellence, Samsung might be giving up on this clamshell series after the Galaxy Z Flip 8 launches.

This is according to reputable leaker @UniverseIce, who stated on X that “the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is likely to be Samsung's last small folding product.”

They didn’t say why that might be, but we can take a guess. For one thing, while the Flip line used to be Samsung’s most popular foldable phone series, there’s evidence that this trend could be starting to change. For example, FN News reported that in South Korea at least, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 received more pre-orders than the Z Flip 7.

So there could be a growing appetite for large-screen book-style foldables, which makes sense given that larger conventional phones tend to outsell compact models. And with the book-style iPhone Ultra reportedly launching this year, the appetite for that style of foldable is only likely to grow.

Plus, arguably one of the main selling points of the Z Flip line was that it provided a relatively affordable way to get a foldable phone, but with rising memory costs that might cease to be the case.

And on top of all that, Samsung is reportedly launching a shorter, wider book-style foldable this year alongside its conventional successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, with this new form factor being bigger than a Flip but still smaller than the company’s current large-screen foldables. So Samsung might see this as something that fans of smaller phones could buy instead of a new Flip.

A phone that would be missed

While this claim from @UniverseIce is believable, I certainly hope they’re wrong. Despite all the reservations above, the Flip is still an appealing line of fofldables.

They’re extremely compact when folded shut, which is sure to appeal to some people, and even with rising memory prices they’re likely to remain cheaper than book-style foldables. So it would be a shame for choice and variety if they disappeared.

Still, it’s likely that Samsung will be looking at sales of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 and the new wider Galaxy Z Fold before making any final decisions, so if the former does particularly well or the latter struggles, there’s still hope for a Galaxy Z Flip 9.

In other words, if it’s something you’d like to see then you should vote with your wallet this year and give Samsung’s upcoming clamshell device some love.

The prepaid carrier debuted an incredible deal on the Galaxy S26 series a month or two ago — a deal so popular that it quickly sold out. Right now, however, the phones have just received a restock on the carrier's site.

The deal in question is an excellent $500 upfront discount with the option to trade in for an additional discount of up to $400 off. Not only that, but the carrier is also throwing in a full year of unlimited data for just $180, which equates to just $15/mo on average.

This particular deal has been so popular because it's not only on the latest Samsung flagship phones, but it also doesn't require any of the usual hoops or criteria that you find at major carriers. You have to pay for your phone upfront, yes, but once you've done so, you've got a full year of completely unlimited data without anything else to pay.

Mint Mobile's epic Galaxy S26 deal is back

Last time this deal was listed on the Mint Mobile site, I didn't even get a chance to write about it before it sold out on all three devices. In context, it's definitely one of the best deals I've seen on the latest Galaxy S26 series since the devices were launched back in February.

This particular deal is so good that it can effectively cover the entire cost of the standard Galaxy S26 if you hit the maximum rebate on the trade-in. The only real caveat with this deal is that you still need to pay for that full year of unlimited data upfront. So, it's not exactly 'free', but it is still pretty great for just $180.

Note: if you already have a decent phone and are just interested in checking out Mint Mobile, then the carrier is also offering its unlimited data plan for $180 when you BOYD this week. I've attached details on that deal below.

Also available at Mint Mobile

A brand new generation of Samsung foldable devices is set to be released later this month, as announced by the brand's reservation campaign ahead of its Samsung Unpacked keynote event.

Right now, speculation about these new devices is rife, and it's almost certain that we'll see the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrive since it's been a full year since the last iteration. While it's sure to be a good device, I thought I'd do a quick PSA for our readers to say — don't discount the soon-to-be-discontinued Galaxy Z Fold 7, either.

There are two main arguments for this: price and the various rumors surrounding the next-gen devices. I'm delving into those in more detail below, but let me just preface by saying that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is still an excellent device for 2026, even if it is a little older now.

The Fold 7 is on sale at a great price right now

The first reason you should still consider the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is obviously the price. Right now, Samsung's deal on the device is one of the better ones I've seen in a few months, and it's likely a clearance deal in all but name.

Of the two discounts available, the upfront discount is particularly compelling since it brings the device down to $1,499 upfront. While we don't know any details about the price of the upcoming next-gen devices, I doubt it will be anywhere near as cheap as this for quite some time.

If you are looking to trade in, however, then there could be an argument for waiting for the next device. The Samsung reservation campaign already promised discounts of up to $1,200 via trade-in, so you'll likely be able to get a little bit extra off the upcoming devices if you wait.

Samsung could be changing the next device dramatically

The second reason for buying the Galaxy Z Fold 7 now is that Samsung could potentially be tweaking the formula significantly for the next device. Rumors and marketing information have pointed to a possible new shape or form factor, which could either be a minor tweak or a radical departure.

For example, it could just be that the tweaks to the size or ratio of the display, or it could completely switch it up to resemble something like the now-discontinued Microsoft Surface Duo. Apple's long-awaited foldable device is likely to arrive this year, so it could be that the brand is looking to head off the competition early with its own statement.

Regardless, if you already like what the Fold 7 is offering, then this could be a good opportunity to snap it up before it's gone for good. We're actually fans of the device's eight-inch main display since it folds down to a size that's essentially the same as a normal phone. It's quite a pocketable device thanks to its 4.2mm thickness, which is particularly handy when it comes to these larger foldables.

With that said, the Fold 8 could be even thinner when it arrives. We're also hoping for official S-Pen support with this next-generation, because that's one of our main criticisms of the outgoing Fold 7. Although by most metrics, it's still an excellent phone for 2026.

The next major smartphone launch is just weeks away: Samsung has set the date for its next Unpacked event as July 22.

The invite doesn’t say exactly what to expect at the London-based showcase, but it does tease that we’ll see a foldable phone with a new form factor, thanks to the tagline “a new shape unfolds”, and that lines up neatly with leaks and rumors.

In this article, we've detailed exactly what that “new shape” might be below, along with details of the other phones, watches, and even glasses that we might see at Galaxy Unpacked 2026.

1. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 is likely to be the most affordable of Samsung’s upcoming phones — and the only one with a clamshell design.

Leaks suggest that this device could use a new Exynos 2600 chipset — though the US might instead get a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Either way, that would be an upgrade on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, which uses the Exynos 2500 chipset in every region.

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 could also have a smaller crease and a slimmer build, but might otherwise be similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 7, coming equipped with a familiar 6.9-inch foldable display, a 4.1-inch cover screen, a 4,300mAh battery, a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP selfie snapper.

2. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 could be that foldable with a “new shape” that Samsung hinted at, with reports suggesting that the company is planning a new book-style foldable that’s shorter and wider than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

This device is rumored to have a 7.6-inch 120Hz foldable screen, a 5.5-inch cover display, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 12GB of RAM, two 50MP cameras on the back, and a 4,800mAh battery.

This could be one of the more interesting devices at the next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, since it’s a form factor that Samsung hasn’t tried before. But aside from the size and shape of the screen, it will probably be quite a conventional foldable.

3. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

Along with the wider model detailed above, Samsung will almost certainly launch a standard successor to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at Unpacked, and this device is rumored to be called the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra — though it’s unclear whether it will do anything to earn that name.

Leaks suggest the phone might have an 8-inch foldable screen, a 6.5-inch cover screen, a 50MP wide camera, a 50MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.

As with the phone above, it’s likely to have a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and 12GB of RAM, but its battery could be of a higher capacity, with leaks pointing to a 5,000mAh cell.

So in all, the Ultra could have bigger screens, a higher capacity battery, and an extra camera over the wider model — along with an almost certainly higher price.

4. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2

We’re also expecting new smartwatches from Samsung, specifically the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 and probably also the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. There’s an outside chance we’ll get a new Samsung Galaxy Watch Classic, but this is looking less likely.

The Galaxy Watch 9 will probably have a circular display again, with leaks pointing to an Exynos W1000 chipset, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and two screen sizes: a 1.34-inch (438 x 438) one and a 1.47-inch (480 x 480) one.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 might instead have a Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset, and could be the first Samsung watch to support 5G.

It could also have a massive — by smartwatch standards — 800mAh battery, 64GB of storage, and a high 5,000-nit peak brightness for its screen. The display, however, might otherwise be similar to the original Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra’s, and it will reportedly come in the same 47mm size.

5. The Samsung Galaxy Glasses

Finally, we might also see the Samsung Galaxy Glasses at Unpacked. These would be Samsung’s first smart glasses, and they reportedly run Android XR with access to Gemini.

They might also have a 12MP camera, a 155mAh battery, directional speakers, and weigh just 50g. But they’re not expected to have a screen, so they could be direct rivals to products like the Ray-Ban Meta.

• The next Galaxy Unpacked is set for July 22, 2026
• Samsung teases "A New Shape Is Unfolding"
• A new foldable form factor could debut alongside the existing Fold and Flip phones

A week after wiping its social media accounts and replacing them with cryptic teasers — and following months of rumors — Samsung has officially set the date for its second Galaxy Unpacked event of 2026.

Everything will be revealed, unpacked, or perhaps more fittingly, unfolded, on July 22, 2026, at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. BST (11 p.m. AEDT). Samsung will livestream the Galaxy Unpacked keynote from an in-person event in London, UK, and yes, TechRadar will be on the ground at the unveil.

The invitation itself is already dropping hints, as Samsung tries to build anticipation. Alongside the tagline, "A New Shape Unfolds," the animated invite shows what appears to be a ticket printing before its top edge is torn away, revealing a noticeably wider, shorter silhouette than Samsung's current Galaxy Z Fold devices.

Samsung hasn't confirmed exactly what it will be announcing come July 22, but between the tagline and the animation, it's hard not to see them as clues pointing toward an all-new foldable design. It's also already accepting pre-reservations for whatever it will formally unveil at the July 22 event.

Specifically, you can sign up with your email on Samsung's main site at no cost to score a $30 Samsung Credit that can be applied to your pre-order and unlock up to $1,230 off with an eligible device trade-in.

So, if you're considering one of the next Galaxy devices, it's worth getting in line now ... and there's no cost involved.

Samsung's summer Galaxy Unpacked events have traditionally been the stage for its newest foldable smartphones and fresh wearables such as Galaxy Watches and Galaxy Buds. This year, though, the spotlight looks set to extend beyond the usual annual refreshes.

While we're expecting successors to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, Samsung has already hinted that something different is on the way. When it began teasing the event last week, the tech giant said that "after seven generations of pushing the boundaries of foldables, Samsung is taking a different approach to how it builds anticipation this year."

That statement, combined with months of leaks pointing to a wider foldable form factor, has fueled speculation that Samsung is finally ready to unveil an entirely new kind of foldable phone.

Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold lineup's familiar book-style design, this rumored device is expected to feature a much wider form factor. Based on the leaks we've seen so far, it resembles the now-discontinued Microsoft Surface Duo, Apple's long-rumored foldable that's widely expected to arrive later this year, or even a classic Moleskine notebook when folded shut. If the rumors prove accurate, Samsung could once again be first to market with a new foldable form factor.

Galaxy AI is also expected to be front and center throughout the keynote, with Samsung likely showcasing new AI-powered features across its latest folding phones and potentially teasing its forthcoming Android XR Glasses.

TechRadar will be on the ground in London for Galaxy Unpacked, bringing you live coverage of every announcement as it happens, along with hands-on impressions of Samsung's newest devices. We'll also be running a live blog throughout the keynote, so be sure to follow along as Samsung unveils what's next come July 22.

In the meantime, let us know what you're most excited to see Samsung reveal at Galaxy Unpacked in the comments below.

• Samsung Messages has been killed off to make room for Google Messages
• Right now it's just affecting US users, but a wider shutdown is likely to happen
• We recommend making Google Messages your default SMS service

After months of waiting, the dreaded day for Android users arrived: Samsung Messages has finally been shut down for good as of July 6.

The Korean tech company announced its decision to axe its messaging service for Galaxy Phones and tablets in April, with Google Messages taking over as the new default communication platform for devices released in 2022 and onwards.

Samsung stopped installing its flagship messaging platform on devices in 2024, so if you’re using the Galaxy S26 Ultra, for example, Google Messages will already be installed.

So what happens now?

At the moment, Samsung Messages’ demise is only impacting users in the US, according to recent reports. According to SamMobile, it may still work outside the US on devices the app was pre-installed on, but it’s likely that a wider shutdown will follow suit in other countries later — it’s been removed from the Galaxy Store and Google Play Store, and UK users on Reddit are reporting its replacement with Google Messages.

That said, if your device is running Android 11 or lower, the shutdown won’t affect you, according to Forbes. However, the outlet notes that those on a more recent version should switch to Google Messages.

Samsung Messages’ shutdown has been a long process, and though users have been anticipating the move for some time, it doesn’t mean that they’re ready to bid farewell to the app just yet.

Comment from r/S24Ultra

Across the board of reactions on Reddit, the general consensus is that Samsung Messages will be missed. “If I wanted to use Google’s POS services I would’ve bought a pixel,” one user explains, but from Samsung’s perspective, it’s all about giving users a messaging experience enriched with handy features.

The company says that the switch to Google Messages will help bring features to Samsung Galaxy devices to align with modern messaging tools used in third-party apps such as WhatsApp. This includes end-to-end encryption, AI tools, and RCS messages, which Google Messages now allows to be sent between iOS and Android devices.

Still haven’t made the switch to Google Messages? We’d recommend doing this sooner rather than later, and it’s quite a straightforward process.

Once you’ve uninstalled Samsung Messages and downloaded the Google Messages app, launch it and a pop-up reading ‘Set default SMS app’ will appear on your device. Tap this, select Google Messages from the options, then tap ‘Set as default’. You can add Google Messages to your Home screen by tapping and holding the app and selecting ‘Add to Home’.

We’re now halfway through the calendar year (yes, really), so what better time to round up our favorite phones of 2026 so far?

I say ‘our favorite phones’, but I really mean ‘my favorite phones’ — I’ve collated five models that may not have perfect TechRadar review scores, but either surprised me in testing or offer something unique in today’s busy smartphone landscape.

The reviews for each model (which I’ve included in each entry) may have been written by someone else, but I’ve personally used all the phones listed below for specific feature deep-dives, video shoots, or general device comparisons. Don’t agree with my list? Let me know your favorite phone(s) of 2026 so far in the comments below.

5. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

• Release date: March 11
• Review rating: 4.5 / 5

Any phone-related ‘best of’ list has to include Samsung’s latest Ultra-branded Galaxy device. This year’s edition is the feature-packed Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and while it’s not the most surprising phone I’ve tested this year (hence its place at number 5), it is the most powerful and versatile of the bunch. It’s an everything phone — an all-you-can-eat buffet of top-end hardware and software.

Chief among the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new software features are Privacy Display and Super Steady Horizontal Lock. The former stops prying eyes from viewing content on your screen, while the latter stabilizes videos even when you turn the phone a full 360 degrees. I’m a die-hard Apple fan, but the iPhone 17 Pro doesn’t have either of these features, nor classic Samsung tools like DeX and the S Pen, so the Galaxy S26 Ultra feels like a cut above the current best iPhone when it comes to productivity.

Add in some customarily premium hardware specs, and you’ve got a formidable pocket companion — albeit one that will cost you an arm and a leg to own.

Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

4. Google Pixel 10a

• Release date: March 5
• Review rating: 4 / 5

Like the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Google Pixel 10a is the definition of ‘iterative upgrade’, but it’s still my go-to recommendation for buyers looking for an affordable Android phone with great cameras. Google’s excellent Android software is just as good on this cheaper device as it is on the premium Google Pixel 10 Pro, and I’d go as far as to say that the 10a is actually the better-looking of the two phones (look at that flush camera!).

Sure, Google’s Tensor G4 chipset is underpowered compared to the midrange competition, and you don’t get any PixelSnap compatibility here, but at $499 / £499 / AU$849, it’s hard to argue against the Pixel 10a’s value for money. Its 6.3-inch Actua display is gorgeous, its two cameras are as good as anything you’ll find for the same price, and its AI-powered software features — from Camera Coach to Call Screen — are genuinely useful. Bravo, Google.

Read our in-depth Google Pixel 10a review

3. Motorola Edge 70 Fusion

• Release date: March 2
• Review rating: 4.5 / 5

I know what you’re thinking: the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion? Surely this little-known device — which isn’t even available in the US — is not my third-favorite phone of 2026 so far? Well, it is, if only because it surprised me (and our reviewer) so much in testing.

The Edge 70 Fusion costs just £379.99 / AU$499, but it looks like a flagship phone. It’s slim and lightweight for its large size, and boasts a nice textured finish on its rear panel. Its 6.78-inch display can reach 144Hz, and the 7,000mAh battery routinely got me through two days on a single charge. And don’t forget the IP68 and IP69 resistance ratings.

There are, of course, compromises. Motorola’s software continues to be… just OK, while the Edge 70 Fusion specifically is only due to receive three years of major software updates. But for such a low price, these shouldn’t be deal-breakers. The Edge 70 Fusion is my surprise package of 2026 so far, and it deserves more attention than it’s been given.

Read our in-depth Motorola Edge 70 Fusion review

2. Nothing Phone (4a) Pro

• Release date: March 19
• Review rating: 4.5 / 5

I recently played around with the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro for an upcoming ‘best midrange phones’ video, and it floors the competition in terms of value for money.

As much as I love the Google Pixel 10a (as you’ll have read above), for the same price, Nothing’s latest a-series phone adds a 50MP telephoto camera, faster charging, and a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset into the mix. And best of all, the (4a) Pro is a thoroughly unique-looking device.

Nothing swapped the transparent rear panel of its other phones for an industrial, aluminum backplate on the (4a) Pro, making the huge camera module the star of the show. This module also features the gimmicky-but-fun Glyph Matrix introduced on the Nothing Phone 3, which, for me, has drawn as much attention in public places as the iPhone Air this year.

If the Google Pixel 10a is my safe value-for-money Android pick of 2026, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is my exciting value-for-money Android pick.

Read our in-depth Nothing Phone (4a) Pro review

1. Oppo Find X9 Ultra

• Release date: May 8
• Review rating: 4.5 / 5

And now we come to the Oppo Find X9 Ultra — my favorite phone of 2026 so far. This is the first Ultra-branded Oppo phone to ship outside of China (though it’s unfortunately still not available in the US), and it blows the competition out of the water in terms of camera performance.

Specifically, the Find X9 Ultra boasts a 200MP (f/1.5) main lens, a 50MP ultra-wide (f/2) lens, a 200MP 3x telephoto (f/2.2) lens, and a 50MP 10x telephoto (f/3.5) lens, which is the sort of combination we rarely see on even the best camera phones.

We recently compared the Oppo Find X9 Ultra against the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the Chinese flagship won out in almost every category. My colleague, Tim, even compared the Oppo Find X9 Ultra to a Lumix TZ300 and Nikon Z8, and the phone absolutely held its own, particularly at 10x zoom.

Away from camera performance, the Find X9 Ultra boasts a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 12GB of RAM, a 6.8-inch OLED display, and an enormous 7,050mAh battery, so it doesn’t leave you wanting for power or endurance.

It’s heavy, it’s thick, and it’s eye-wateringly expensive, but the Oppo Find X9 Ultra is still the most exciting phone of 2026 so far.

Read our in-depth Oppo Find X9 Ultra review

We’re approaching the first anniversary of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which means it won’t be long before we see the phone (or phones, as the case may be) that will replace it in Samsung’s lineup.

As someone who has relied on the Fold 7 as my daily driver since it landed, I couldn’t be more excited to see what the next generation holds, and I have a few wishes I hope Samsung will make come true — with leaks teasing some of them just might…

Before we get into that, vote in our poll to tell me which upgrade you most want to see in the Z Fold 8 when it’s finally announced.

1. An Ultra camera boost

The Z Fold 7 has been my go-to every day since I first received it, but for the past six months I’ve also consistently carried a second phone in my pocket — becoming the kind of kind of tech journo I hoped I never would, one obsessed with tech perfection no matter how inefficient and niche my collection of gadgets is (just you wait, I’ll be wearing two smartwatches next).

The reason I mention this is that the second phone is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and its primary purpose is as a camera, because it frankly puts my Z Fold 7's shots to shame.

If you want a clearer sign that 200MP sensors aren’t made equally, see this pair’s photos side by side. Couple that with the Ultra’s superior zoom cameras — further amplified by its boasting dual 5x and 3x telephotos compared to the Fold 7’s lonely 3x — and for photo enthusiasts, it’s clear the S26 Ultra has an edge.

My hope is that if the Z Fold 8 is getting an Ultra moniker, as some leaks suggest, it’ll boast identical cameras, or risk feeling like a subpar alternative, despite having a price point that demands excellence in every category.

2. Affordability dreams

Speaking of price, the reality I’m preparing for is that the Z Fold 8 will cost more than the Fold 7, thanks to RAM and storage cost increases. There’s a chance Samsung could avoid this by having its memory-producing arm give its mobile division a discount, although there are conflicting reports about a cost-saving collaboration based on leaks and Samsung’s own comments.

Regardless, I think the Z Fold 8 design could hint at a slight discount. I’m not talking about the wider display — though it does seem to have a smaller area, which should reduce costs somewhat — I’m referring to the lack of a third camera.

With it being rumored to boast 12GB of RAM and a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset — essential components for Samsung’s top-tier AI — it’s yet to be seen if the display and camera downgrades will bring the cost down in real terms or merely counteract the cost increases we would have faced thanks to the RAM crisis. I have my fingers crossed we might see the cheapest Samsung Fold yet with the 8 (defeating the reigning champ: the $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,499 Galaxy Z Fold 3).

3. Begging for battery

The Z Fold 7 boasts a 4,400mAh battery just like the Z Fold 6 before it, but thanks to software and chipset optimizations, Samsung promised the battery life of the 7 would be a little longer. My anecdotal evidence, however, as someone who used the Z Fold 6 as my main handset before the 7 launched, is that the battery seems to disappear faster on the newer model.

Now, this isn’t based on any tests, but speaking to a few other regular Z Fold 7 users who had upgraded from the 6, my perception of worse battery life was echoed. Thankfully, leaks tease a bigger battery for the 8, taking us up to a whole 4,800mAh. The Ultra will apparently stretch to 5,000mAh.

Considering some reasonably priced Chinese brands are delivering phones powered by silicon-carbon batteries with capacities over 7,000mAh, the leaked specs leave me underwhelmed. However, considering my usage currently forces me to charge my phone in the middle of the day — or risk it running dry before I get home — I’ll be happy with any upgrade in the battery department.

4. Privacy display please!

The star of the show on the S26 Ultra is the privacy display, but after spending more time with it, the tech does need a little tweaking. An easy software update would be to add app controls that let me choose which software uses maximum privacy mode. I don’t want to use it all the time, but I would love for it to come on automatically for password entry and mobile banking. However, it is still impressive.

Seeing it on the Z Fold 8 would be fantastic, especially on the Z Fold 8 Ultra, as, like the cameras, it would bring the Fold Ultra on par with the unbending Ultra, though I’m willing to accept the tech only showing up on the outer screen.

Unfortunately for me, leaks don’t tease this addition making its way to Samsung’s latest foldables, but maybe I’ll get lucky!

5. Keep the S pen away

I’ve come around a little on the S Pen after experiencing it in the S26 Ultra, though I’m still not keen to see it return to the foldable line.

Why?

There’s no space to add it without making the phone thicker again. Frankly, the supreme thinness of the Z Fold 7 is what makes it infinitely more manageable than Samsung’s previous foldable phones.

With the Wide design being more tablet-like, I 100% see the appeal of a stylus to make the design perfect for casual digital artists, but I don’t think the S Pen’s positives outweigh the negatives. I hope it stays gone when the Z Fold 8 debuts.

The official Samsung Store had an epic deal on the Galaxy S26 Ultra last week, with the retailer offering the device with a record-beating $350 upfront discount. Well, after a short pause, it appears that the deal is back today — just in time for the 4th of July.

In case you missed it, the deal in question is a choice between an upfront $350 discount or a trade-in rebate of up to $720. Both can be used to get a seriously cheap unlocked device here, but the upfront discount is actually the more noteworthy of the two.

Generally speaking, we're accustomed to seeing big trade-in rebates on this device, but if you're someone looking to just buy a device outright, then you'll know that big upfront discounts like this are much rarer.

Today's discount brings the 256GB configuration down to $949, which is still pricey, but much better than the $1,299 that it originally listed for on release.

Today's record-low Galaxy S26 Ultra deal at Samsung

Samsung's best Galaxy S phone yet

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the current phone to beat if you're looking for the very best high-end Android flagship money can buy. Our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review described it as 'the best Galaxy S phone to date' despite its fairly modest upgrades over the previous generation.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra definitely resembles the S25 Ultra, but the company did tweak the formula slightly with new features without increasing the price. For example, the new Privacy display and Super Steady video mode — both of which you won't get on the standard Galaxy S26 or S26 Plus.

Otherwise, it's still an Ultra device, meaning you get the best display, best cameras, and the versatility of its built-in S Pen. It's definitely pricey, but if you're a power user who makes full use of your phone, it's worth the $950 price of admission.

More of today's best sales at Samsung

• Appliances: 4th of July sales on ranges, refrigerators, washers
• Phones: record-low price on the Galaxy S26 series
• Tablets: $400 off Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra
• TVs: up to $1,700 off OLED and Neo QLED TVs

If you own one of the best Samsung phones, and have a habit of mislaying your wallet or keys, then the Samsung SmartTag 2 is exactly what you need. Samsung’s answer to the Apple AirTag, the dinky SmartTag 2 can be attached to, or inserted in, practically anything you can think of. If you lose said item, you can use your Samsung device to track it down.

And right now you can grab a 4-pack for the low price of just AU$71.06 at Amazon for a limited time. That’s just under AU$18 per tag, which is a surefire bargain.

The SmartTag 2 is incredibly simple to use. Just connect a tag to any object, register it with the SmartThings Find app and use Search Nearby to find your item. You can also make the Galaxy SmartTag 2 play a sound if it's near enough to find with its ringtone feature.

You can track the Galaxy SmartTag 2 so long as it stays attached and intact. And, don't worry, with a battery life of up to 700 days and IP67 rating for protection against dust and water, it will last long enough for you to find your items, even if they somehow find their way to the desert or the bottom of the pool.

If you're looking for an iOS compatible smart tag, try the Apple AirTag 2, which is also seeing a discount on the 4-pack at Amazon, now down to AU$132.82 thanks to a AU$6 saving at the checkout, but I’d wait to see if these drop in price further come Prime Day 2026 in Australia.

If you want a smart tag that works for multiple devices, including iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel, try the much cheaper Life 360 Tile, which is now AU$55.95 for a 4-pack.

• A near-complete specs list for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 has leaked
• We've also seen leaked renders of the Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Z Flip 8
• Plus, a leaker claims none of these phones will have a Privacy Display

We’re probably less than a month away from the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its siblings, with July 22 being repeatedly tipped as the announcement date, and Samsung even recently teasing its upcoming foldables.

Sadly, those teasers didn’t actually reveal much, but a trio of leaks has told us almost everything we need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 — assuming the details here are correct.

First up, reputable leaker Ahmed Qwaider has shared a near-complete specs list, claiming that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will have a 7.6-inch 120Hz foldable screen and a 5.5-inch cover display, both with QHD+ resolutions.

It will also apparently have a 50MP wide camera, a 50MP ultra-wide, and two 10MP selfie cameras (one on each screen). For power, it’s said to use a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and 12GB of RAM, paired with a choice of 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage.

Qwaider also claims that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 will have a 4,800mAh battery, will weigh 201g, and come in at 123.9 x 81.9 x 9.7mm when folded and 123.9 x 161.4 x 4.5mm when unfolded.

Some of these specs might sound like a step down from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 — for example, there’s one less camera listed here — but that’s because the phone dubbed the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is expected to be a new, wider, shorter model, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra likely to be the true successor to the Z Fold 7.

All three phones pictured

In any case, Android Headlines has also recently shared some renders of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8.

The phones are shown in cases, so we don’t get an unobstructed look at them, but they’re largely as you’d expect, with the Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 looking a lot like their predecessors, while the Galaxy Z Fold 8 looks like a squatter version of the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

And finally, leaker @UniverseIce has claimed that none of these upcoming phones will have the Privacy Display found on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

This feature — which means people can’t see sensitive content on your screen when viewing it from the side — is arguably one of the highlights of Samsung’s latest flagship, and one of the most innovative features the company has come up with in a while, so it will be a real shame if none of its upcoming foldables have this too.

Still, at least we shouldn’t have long to wait before we find out exactly what these phones are capable of.

• Samsung launches cryptic social media campaign
• It appears to be about the next generation of foldables
• More specificially, Samsung is trying to tell us about shapes

Samsung is slicing up pizza, smearing paint, and playing with puzzles all in an effort to hint about what's to come in its next big Unpacked product event this month, which we all expect to be about foldables.

After clearing out its social media accounts, Samsung returned with a handful of social, almost ASMR videos that focus on sound and visuals but offer little in the way of concrete information.

The social media campaign starts with a photo booth printout that features four images of a woman and her dog. The print includes a substantial top border with the word "Snapply." Someone cuts that off before we see the words, "Cut to what matters."

Next, there's a pepperoni pizza where someone uses a rolling pie cutter to slide out a small, rectangular shape. They remove the slice, slide away the remaining pie, and the words "A whole new slice" appear. Next, there's a tiny dog puzzle. Someone removes the top row of pieces, and the words "Feels just right" appear. The last one, though, might be most telling.

It starts with some paint drops on a white palette. A squeegee slides over them to mix the colors and reveal the number 8 with the words:

"Bold stroke

New shape"

One thing we can glean here is that all of these social media bits are talking about design, shape, or aspect ratio. After all, the word "shape" and words that apply to shape appear throughout.

The "8" makes sense. We're still sporting our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 devices, and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8 are, presumably, the next phones in line. There are rumors of a new wide device, too, which fits the "new shape" idea Samsung is teasing here. Beyond that, though, we don't know much.

This is different

Samsung told us via email that the company is "hitting reset."

"After seven generations of pushing the boundaries of foldables, Samsung is taking a different approach to how it builds anticipation this year," the company wrote.

This new social media campaign is purposely devoid of product details and encourages guesswork. The recurrent shapes and patterns are intentional.

Clearly, all these videos are not just about the shape. They might be trying to tell us about some of the new features coming with the next generation of Galaxy Z foldables. For instance, there is another hint, perhaps unintentional: both the puzzle and the paint video are, according to the fine print, AI videos with edits. Were they created on the new devices? Only time will tell.

Take our advice and keep watching all of Samsung's social media channels for additional hints and details.

• Samsung Messages is shutting down for US users in July
• Google Messages is the suggested alternative, but there are other options
• You should switch to a new app before the shutdown date to ensure you keep your chat history

If you’re a Samsung Messages user then you’re probably already aware that the app is soon shutting down in the US — and if you’re not, you need to be, because there are steps you’ll need to take to preserve your messages and continue being able to chat.

While the exact shutdown date hasn’t been confirmed by Samsung, the company has said that it will be switched off at some point in July, and it’s looking like it will probably happen on July 6, as some users reported getting notifications with that date.

So, you don’t have long to get your messaging house in order. With that in mind, we’ve detailed the five things you should do before Samsung Messages shuts down.

1. Check if you’re affected

Oddly, it seems that right now at least, Samsung isn’t shutting down its messaging app everywhere. In fact, initially, it’s only shutting down in the US.

Even then, it will seemingly continue working on devices running Android 11 or older, so if you’re outside the US or running a very old version of Android, you don’t necessarily need to do anything (though you might still want to, as detailed below).

But Android 11 is likely to have numerous security vulnerabilities these days, so if you are still running that version of Google's software, it’s worth updating your device or getting a new one anyway if possible.

2. Consider switching even if you’re not affected

While Samsung has said that it currently has no plans to shut down Samsung Messages outside the US, it’s hard to imagine this isn’t something the company is at least considering.

We’d think it’s likely that the US shutdown is just the first step, with other regions potentially following sometime later, and even if it isn’t shut down elsewhere, this move rather suggests that Samsung Messages isn’t a priority for the company, so you might find it doesn’t get updated as much as alternative apps.

All of which is to say it could be worth switching messaging apps anyway, even if you don’t actually have to yet.

3. Choose and download a new messaging app

Assuming you either have to switch or have decided that now’s the time, you’re going to need to choose an alternative.

Handily, there’s no need to give this much thought, as Samsung is directing users to Google Messages, so if you’re happy with that, you can download it from Google Play and skip to the next step.

But you might want to consider other options too, such as Fossify Messages, Textra SMS, Beeper, or Pulse SMS.

However, be aware that only Google Messages and Beeper support RCS (Rich Communication Services) — the others are limited to SMS, which has fewer features and is less secure.

4. Set it as your default messaging app

Next, set whichever app you’ve chosen as your default messaging app. In most cases, you should see a prompt asking you to do this when you launch the new app for the first time, but if not, just head to Settings > Apps > Choose default apps > SMS app, and then tap the one you want to use.

5. Wait for your chats to move across

In most cases, once you download a new messaging app and set it as your default, your previous conversations from Samsung Messages will move across to it automatically, though this can take up to 24 hours, so don’t panic if they don’t immediately appear.

But if you choose to switch to Beeper, then the process is a bit more involved, as you’ll first need to download Google Messages anyway and move your conversation history over to that. Then you can connect Beeper to your Google account to give it access.

• Images of cases for the rumored wider Galaxy foldable have leaked
• They look like official cases, but they call the phone the 'Galaxy New Fold'
• Fans have cast doubt over whether these are the real deal

One of the big questions surrounding Samsung’s rumored wider foldable is what it will actually be called.

Early leaks referred to it as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide, but then more recently, we heard that it might simply launch as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, with the direct successor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 now being called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Now, though, another possibility has emerged.

Some leaked images have been shared on X by Mohammed Khatri and @thinborne showing packaging for seemingly official cases for the phone, which here is listed as the ‘Samsung Galaxy New Fold’.

But there are reasons to doubt this name, as while the photos are probably real, there’s a high chance the products they show are knock-offs from China.

As one Reddit commenter purported: “These are fake cases made by Chinese companies sold through eBay, temu, shein, ali express, etc... they copy Samsung boxes well, but they don't know the new name of the fold wide, so you can see that on the box where it's just called new fold. Samsung would never do that.”

Another Reddit poster agreed, writing, “I've seen cases like that appear all over Aliexpress and almost all of them are knockoffs with the Samsung logo on them.”

And on top of all that, these are supposedly ‘Kindsuit’ cases, which are a style of case that Samsung offers for last year’s flagship phones, but not for the Samsung Galaxy S26 series. So there’s some doubt over whether the company’s upcoming foldables would get this style of case.

We'll find out soon

On the other hand, questionable name aside, these do look like they could be official Samsung cases, so we can’t completely rule out the possibility that this will be the wider foldable’s official name.

But it would seem an odd choice, as subsequent wide models will no longer be ‘new’ in the same sense, so it would quickly become a clunky naming scheme.

We’ll probably find out very soon anyway, as Samsung is rumored to be launching its next batch of foldables on July 22.

This week's big news in the world of tech deals is Amazon Prime Day. The retailer's summer mega-sale has really dominated the headlines, but it's not the only game in town. For one, the official Samsung Store is currently offering exceptional deals on its own brand devices thanks to its own 'summer sale' happening right now.

On such deal is a record-low price on the excellent Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is our favorite Android device currently. Usually, this flagship would set you back an exorbitant amount, but right now you can either get $350 off upfront or up to $720 off with a trade-in.

Of the two, the upfront discount is the real headline feature here as it lets you take home the standard configuration for $949 (was $1,099). Ok, that's still extremely expensive, but there are no additional hoops to jump through to get your hands on the device at its lowest-ever upfront price. With this unlocked device, you'll be able to port it over to whatever carrier you wish without any annoying criteria, too.

Note that Amazon Prime Day is set to end at midnight tonight (June 26th) but it's difficult to say whether this deal will disappear exactly. Nonetheless, if you are interested, I would probably recommend jumping on it sooner rather than later as it could vanish as the various 'summer sales' wind down.

Today's record-low Galaxy S26 Ultra deal at Samsung

The best Samsung Galaxy S phone yet

In our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, we described it as Samsung's best Galaxy S phone to date, despite it being a fairly modest upgrade over its predecessor.

Rather than reinventing the formula, Samsung has refined it, improving the design, boosting performance, and expanding its AI features without increasing the price. Standout additions include the new Privacy display and Super Steady video mode, both of which are innovative features exclusive to the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Even so, the phone's biggest strengths remain its stunning display, superb cameras, and the versatility of its built-in S Pen. While pricey, at $950 we'd definitely say that the Ultra is worth considering if you want a high-end Android flagship.

More of today's best sales at Samsung

• Appliances: 4th of July sales on ranges, refrigerators, washers
• Phones: record-low price on the Galaxy S26 series
• Tablets: $400 off Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra
• TVs: up to $1,700 off OLED and Neo QLED TVs

• Samsung has announced the Galaxy A27
• This budget phone has a faster chipset than the A26 along with a refined design and an improved selfie camera
• However, it has worse water resistance and fewer megapixels in its ultra-wide snapper

Samsung has just launched a new budget phone, with the Galaxy A27 arriving to take the place of last year’s Samsung Galaxy A26. But while there are some worthwhile upgrades here, there are also at least two downgrades.

Most notably, while the Galaxy A26 has an IP67 rating, the Galaxy A27 is instead stuck with a lesser IP64 rating, meaning it’s less water resistant.

At least one of the cameras also looks to be a downgrade, as while both phones have a 50MP wide camera and a 2MP macro one, the Galaxy A27 pairs those with a 5MP ultra-wide, whereas the Galaxy A26 has an 8MP ultra-wide snapper.

Looking purely at megapixels, the front-facing camera may seem a slight downgrade too, as it's 12MP on the Galaxy A27 and 13MP on the Galaxy A26. But overall, this is probably actually an upgrade, as Samsung claims the new camera can capture “a wider range of brightness and richer colors” for more natural-looking selfies.

A faster chipset and smaller bezels

As for things that are clear upgrades, there’s a more powerful Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, a punch-hole camera in place of a notch, and smaller bezels. The Samsung Galaxy A27 also has improved AI capabilities, such as multi-object recognition in Circle to Search, and more precise results from Object Eraser.

Beyond that, most of the specs are the same as last year, including a 6.7-inch 120Hz screen, up to 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 25W charging.

The Samsung Galaxy A27 also runs Android 16 and comes with the promise of six generations of Android updates and six years of security updates.

It’s launching in the UK and Australia on July 3 and the US on July 14, starting at £319, AU$499 and $349.99 respectively.

It will be sold in black, blue, light green, and light pink, but not all regions will necessarily get all of those colors — we know, for example, that in the US and Australia, it’s only going to be sold in black.

A smartphone can be a major investment — especially if you’re shopping for one of the best phones around — so it’s important to be sure that the device you’re buying isn’t just good for now, but good for many years to come.

Software support is a key factor in determining how long a phone will last, and in recent years, manufacturers have been committing to much longer product support windows than they used to. But not all phones get the same amount of support, and indeed some older phones will be approaching their final update in 2026.

So, below, we’ve detailed how long phones from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Motorola will continue to receive updates.

To keep things simple, we've focused on major brands with US availability, but if you have a recent high-end phone from the likes of Honor, Oppo, or Xiaomi, it will likely be in line for between five and six years of updates from its launch date. Older and lower-end models tend to be in the two-to-three-year range.

Apple iPhones

Apple never used to commit to a specific support window for its phones, but that changed in 2024, when new UK regulations required brands to outline a minimum support window. As a result, Apple now promises a minimum of five years — but this only applies to security updates, not the kinds of iOS updates that add new software features. And five years is a minimum, with Apple often going beyond that number anyway.

All of which is to say we can’t be certain when iPhones will get their final update, but typically, they’re supported for between five and seven years.

So, the list below is our best guess for how many years of updates each currently supported iPhone model has left.

• iPhone 17 series — 4-6 years (last update in 2030, 2031, or 2032)
• iPhone Air — 4-6 years (last update in 2030, 2031, or 2032)
• iPhone 16 series — 3-5 years (last update in 2029, 2030 or 2031)
• iPhone 15 series — 2-4 years (last update in 2028, 2029, or 2030)
• iPhone 14 series — 1-3 years (last update in 2027, 2028, or 2029)
• iPhone SE (2022) — 1-3 years (last update in 2027, 2028, or 2029)
• iPhone 13 series — 0-2 years (last update in 2026, 2027, or 2028)
• iPhone 12 series — 0-2 years (last update in 2026, 2027, or 2028)
• iPhone 11 series — final update will probably be this year with iOS 27
• iPhone SE (2020) — final update will probably be this year with iOS 27

Samsung Galaxy phones

Samsung offers as much as seven years of support for some of its recent phones, but older and lower-end handsets get fewer updates, so how long your phone will be updated for can be quite variable depending on the model.

• Samsung Galaxy S26 series — 7 years (last update in 2033)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy S25 series — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy S24 series — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A57 — 6 years (last update in 2032)
• Samsung Galaxy A56 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A36 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A26 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A17 — 5 years (last update in 2031)
• Samsung Galaxy A17 — 4 years (last update in 2030)
• Samsung Galaxy A55 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Samsung Galaxy A35 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Samsung Galaxy M35 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Samsung Galaxy A25 — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2028)
• Samsung Galaxy A54 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy A34 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy S23 series — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Samsung Galaxy M54 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028

Google Pixel phones

Google has committed to supporting all handsets from the Pixel 8 onwards for seven years, while phones from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 lines get five years of support.

Note that, as a-series models launch later than their mainline siblings, they technically get supported for longer. But depending on when major new Android versions launch, they may not get additional significant updates.

• Google Pixel 10a — 7 years (last update in early 2033)
• Google Pixel 10 series (excluding 10a) — 6 years (last update in late 2032)
• Google Pixel 9a — 6 years (last update in early 2032)
• Google Pixel 9 series (excluding 9a) — 5 years (last update in late 2031)
• Google Pixel 8a — 5 years (last update in early 2031)
• Google Pixel 8 series (excluding 8a) — 4 years (last update in late 2030)
• Google Pixel Fold — 2 years (last update in mid-2028)
• Google Pixel 7a — 2 years (last update in mid-2028)
• Google Pixel 7 series (excluding 7a) — 1 year (last update in late 2027)
• Google Pixel 6a — 1 year (last update in mid-2027)
• Google Pixel 6 series (excluding 6a) — final update this year (2026)

Motorola phones

Motorola’s update commitments feel quite messy and inconsistent, with some phones getting more or fewer updates than you might expect, but you’ll find an overview of the currently supported handsets below.

• Motorola Signature — 7 years (last update in early 2033)
• Motorola Edge 70 series — 3 years (last update in 2029, security patches until 2031)
• Motorola Edge 60 Neo — 3 years (last update in 2029, security patches until 2031)
• Motorola Edge 50 Neo — 3 years (last update in 2029)
• Motorola Razr 70 / Razr 2026 series — 2 years (last update in 2028, security patches until 2030)
• Motorola Edge 60 series (excluding Neo) — 2 years (last update in 2028, security patches until 2029)
• Moto G75 — 2 years (last update in 2028, security patches until 2030)
• Motorola Razr 60 / Razr 2025 series — 1 year (last update in 2027, security patches until 2029)
• Motorola Edge 50 Pro — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Motorola Edge 50 Fusion — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Motorola Edge 50 Ultra — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Motorola Razr 50 / Razr 2024 series — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2028
• Moto G86 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2029
• Moto G56 — final Android update this year (2026), final security patch in 2029

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a balanced flagship phone, but can it compete with Ultra-branded camera phones from China? To find out, I pitted the best Samsung phone against the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, which is widely considered the best camera phone available right now. But while the Oppo flagship was the favorite going into my photo walk, the Samsung surprised me in a few ways.

With the S26 Ultra, the Korean giant doubled down on software and bundled it with larger apertures on two sensors, whereas Oppo went all-in on hardware upgrades and paired them with meaningful software advancements. It also added 10x optical zoom, making the Find X9 Ultra the only Ultra phone with this feature in 2026. Oppo says its 10x telephoto camera is 3x more light-sensitive than the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x camera.

The resulting camera system beats the Galaxy S26 Ultra in most scenarios, but Samsung's flagship phone surprised me on multiple occasions. It's certainly a better camera phone than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, despite having seemingly similar hardware.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Oppo Find X9 Ultra: Specs

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra covers 13-111mm focal lengths. It has a 50MP 13mm f/1.9 ultra-wide camera with a 1/2.5-inch sensor, a 200MP 23mm f/1.4 main camera with a 1/1.3-inch sensor, a 10MP 67mm f/2.4 3x telephoto camera with a 1/3.94-inch sensor, and a 50MP 111mm f/2.9 5x periscope telephoto camera with a 1/2.52-inch sensor. It looks formidable until you see what Oppo has on offer this year.

The Find X9 Ultra covers focal lengths from 14mm to 230mm. It has a 50MP 14mm f/2 ultra-wide camera with a 1/1.95-inch sensor, a 200MP 23mm f/1.5 main camera with a 1/1.2-inch sensor, a 200MP 70mm f/2.2 3x telephoto camera with a 1/1.28-inch sensor, and a 50MP 230mm f/3.5 10x telephoto camera with a 1/2.75-inch sensor.

I took more than 500 photos on each phone and narrowed down this comparison to 25 images. Here's how the two Ultra phone cameras compare:

Main camera

Both Samsung and Oppo shoot pixel-binned images from their 200MP sensor by default. I recommend using a higher resolution mode (like 24MP or 50MP on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and 50MP on the Oppo), but I kept the default settings for this comparison.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra boosts color saturation to add a pop, whereas Oppo's shots look more natural. While I like Samsung's contrast, there's some artificial color sharpening going on, making it look less natural.

On the other hand, the Find X9 Ultra gives you a more pleasing bokeh, thanks to a bigger sensor. Both phones captured good amount of details, as you can see the texture on the leaves.

However, I prefer Oppo's color science and Master Mode, which give me natural tones with minimal phone-like color processing.

In evening shots, the Galaxy S26 Ultra gave my photos a teal hue, whereas the Find X9 Ultra had a pink hue. My skin tone was better captured by the Oppo phone, and it had more details. In comparison, the Samsung shot looks slightly noisy and less appealing overall.

Samsung has been working on improving its night mode photos for a few years now, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra beats its rivals in this scenario on most occasions. I want my low-light photos to look like low-light shots instead of artificially brightened photos. That's why I like Samsung's saturated colors on the entrance board versus Oppo's brightened picture quality at night.

However, if you switch to the Master Mode, things change drastically. The Find X9 Ultra handles night light well and doesn't overexpose the shots to brighten every detail. In my testing, Master Mode consistently delivered better results than Oppo's default processing, and I relied on it for night shots.

Telephoto cameras

This is one of the scenarios where Samsung surprised me. I like its cooler tone versus Oppo's warmer look, which gave my skin a yellow tint. It doesn't look bad, but I'm simply not that pale. Again, this could be fixed by using the Master Mode, but I expected better color science from the default processing. However, Oppo's shot captured rich details as compared to a slightly smoother-looking skin on the Samsung flagship.

In challenging lighting situations like the above, when the setting sun was directly hitting my face, Samsung processed the photo better than Oppo.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra managed to get the golden hour look, while the Find X9 Ultra's shot looks washed out. Both photos were captured with tap and shoot, so the focus was set, and the cameras didn't struggle to find the subject automatically. Again, I wish Samsung captured more details with a more natural-looking bokeh. It looks soft and slightly artificial in comparison to the Oppo's.

Oppo's bigger lens and smarter processing comes in handy when you need rich details in shots like above. Samsung struggled to focus on the thick webbing, while the Find X9 Ultra focused and captured even the single strands. And this extends to the 10x telephoto camera.

Oppo demolishes the Galaxy S26 Ultra in macro shots. This was a tricky subject because the small flower kept moving in the slightest breeze. I struggled to get it in focus with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which it simply couldn't do. That's why I don't have a comparison photo for this shot. The Oppo Find X9 Ultra, by contrast, focused on the same subject with a single tap and even captured those white threads in the picture.

One of the reasons I love having big telephoto cameras, like the one on the Find X9 Ultra, is that they allow me to get so close to small subjects and capture things I'd never be able to focus on with my eyes. Oppo's macro mode is right up there with Vivo's, and Samsung doesn't have a match for it.

Ultra-wide camera

When it comes to my ultra-wide testing, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra was able to get more contrast and highlight the blues of the sky without blowing out the green leaves as the Galaxy S26 Ultra did.

Overall, I prefer Oppo's shot here because it has more details on the tree trunks and didn't overexpose the leaves. However, Samsung's processing focused on better exposing the leaves and didn't have the same halo effect as its rival.

Verdict

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra consistently captured richer details compared to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, the Samsung flagship stood its own and even beat the Oppo phone on a couple of occasions. While I prefer having bigger sensors, the Galaxy phone surprised me in the best ways.

That said, Oppo easily wins in most scenarios. It is, hands-down, the current king of smartphone telephoto cameras. TechRadar's Cameras Editor Timothy Coleman also compared the Find X9 Ultra to two dedicated cameras and concluded, "It feels like this flagship Chinese phone renders most travel zoom compacts redundant," which can't be said about the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The Master Mode is an added benefit if you like shooting film-like colors. I simply can't stop shooting with this phone.

If your phone of choice is a Samsung Galaxy handset, then you'll know that the Android-based One UI software that comes with it is packed with handy settings and features. There's more to explore than there is on many other Android phones, including the Google Pixel series.

In fact there are so many options that Samsung has hidden some of them away. One UI includes a Connectivity labs menu, which includes a variety of useful features, but you have to jump through a number of hoops before you can find it.

Once you do have it enabled, you can check the strength of the Wi-Fi all around your home, troubleshoot problems you might be having with the network, change the way your phone switches between mobile data and Wi-Fi, and more besides.

Here's how to find Connectivity labs, and how to use it.

Enabling Connectivity labs and Wi-Fi scans

To get this menu visible, you need to head to Settings on your Galaxy phone and tap Connections then Wi-Fi. Tap the three dots in the top right corner, and select Intelligent Wi-Fi. You then need to tap the Intelligent Wi-Fi label at the bottom of the next screen seven times (you'll see a countdown appear after a few taps).

Hey presto — you now have a new Connectivity labs menu to make use of. Open this up and you'll see a host of different statistics about your network, and numerous features and options to explore. Right at the top, for example, you can see how long the device has been connected to Wi-Fi today, and what the daily average is.

Go further down the screen and there's a breakdown of the Wi-Fi bands that your Galaxy phone has been connected to, and the standard of Wi-Fi it's been using (so you can check that your new Wi-Fi 7 router is working as advertised). You're also able to see how many Wi-Fi networks are saved to the phone.

One of the most useful features in Connectivity labs for me is the Home Wi-Fi inspection. If you select this then choose Start, your phone will take you on a tour of your home, showing you in real time the Wi-Fi signal strength from your router and giving you warnings about areas with weaker connectivity.

Fortunately, the Wi-Fi in my home is relatively strong, but there are a couple of spots where the signal is weak, and the inspection tool flags them up. It can also be useful to make changes to the Wi-Fi setup (such as moving the router somewhere else) and seeing how that effects the signal coverage.

Other features you'll find in Connectivity labs

There's lots more you can do with Connectivity labs, as you'll see if you keep scrolling down the page. Turn on Auto reconnect to carrier Wi-Fi, for example, and your phone will automatically connect to public Wi-Fi hotspots operated by your carrier. There's also a Wi-Fi 7 toggle switch, to make sure you're always using the latest Wi-Fi standard, on networks where it's available.

If you enable the Switching to mobile data faster toggle switch, your phone then automatically hops to a cellular connection when it detects that the Wi-Fi it's using is spotty and weak. It means you might end up using more data, but you'll have fewer problems with interruptions when the Wi-Fi you're connected to isn't the best.

The Intelligent Wi-Fi Handover and Switching to mobile data with AI features work in a similar way. The former will hand over some tasks to cellular data on a weak Wi-Fi signal without disabling the Wi-Fi completely, while the latter uses your typical usage patterns (in terms of downloads, browsing, and so on) to decide when to switch off Wi-Fi.

You can use the Connect to 2.4GHz for IOT setup to force your phone to use the 2.4GHz band on your router — this is the one a lot of smart home devices attach themselves to, so you might have to do this to configure them — while L4S is a special low-latency connection protocol that can speed up your connection, if your router supports it.

There's also the option to Show network quality info in the list of networks when you're connecting to Wi-Fi, so you can see what the best pick is when you've got multiple options to choose from. These are all genuinely useful features to have access to, and it's not really clear why Samsung thinks they should stay hidden by default.

If you've been eying up the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, waiting for the appropriate deal, then today could be your lucky day. Over at Samsung, the official retailer is currently offering a fantastic array of promotions that could save you upwards of $950.

First of all, Samsung is offering either a trade-in rebate of up to $720 off or an upfront discount of $200. Both of these are great savings and pretty much the best we've seen from the official retailer.

Where things get interesting, however, is that you can take advantage of an additional discount on either of these deals. Pay with PayPal and use the code PAYPAL150 at checkout to get an additional $150 off your shiny new phone.

I think the code is a particularly good pairing with the $200 saving as you'll easily get a device for the lowest upfront discount yet. Trade-in rebates come and go, but we rarely see a non-trade-in discount this good on unlocked phones.

Record-low Galaxy S26 Ultra deal at Samsung

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Samsung

Today's deal at Samsung is a Father's Day special, so it's probably worth picking it up sooner rather than later if you're interested.

It's interesting timing too, as Amazon's massive Prime Day sale is set to start Tuesday next week. We'll almost certainly see discounts on the Galaxy S26 series at the retailer over the duration of this mega sale, although I doubt they will reach the combined value of these deals at Samsung today.

When I was doing all the testing for our Samsung Galaxy A57 review, I enjoyed how streamlined its software was compared to that of the best Samsung phones. But since publishing that review, I've been jumping back and forth between the A57 and another Samsung flagship, and I've got a more nuanced view.

Before the A57 (and, for a little while, after it), I was using the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is pretty much the best Android phone money can buy. It has similar hardware specs to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with its biggest advancements instead coming in the form of new software tools and features.

Now, I know the Galaxy A57 and S26 Ultra aren't exactly comparable. The former is a mid-range phone starting at $549 / £529 / AU$749, while the latter is a premium phablet which costs a minimum of $1,299 / £1,279 / AU$2,199. That's over twice as much.

But from the right angle, they're the same phone. Both are the top models in their respective Galaxy categories, and they're undoubtedly the two best Samsung phones released in 2026 so far. If you've got the budget, you buy the S26 Ultra, while the A57 is designed to be a great corner-cutting alternative.

And for the most part, Samsung made the right corner-cutting calls. Zoom cameras? Gotta go. Blazing chipset? Not here. Stylus? Styl-off. But when I tested the A57, there were definitely a few absent software features that I missed from the S26 Ultra.

So come on, Samsung — please add these 5 software features to cheaper phones like the Galaxy A57 in future software updates.

Audio Eraser

Audio Eraser is a really nifty AI feature. It basically works as an on-device noise cancellation tool for videos you're watching.

The use case Samsung demonstrated during the feature's announcement — which I've since tried myself on several occasions — was for live sports events or recaps. Usually, the crowd is so loud that you can barely hear what's going on. Audio Eraser can identify the crowd noise and strip it from the audio, letting you hear the commentary and even sports noises.

It's also useful for eliminating environmental sounds, like the rush of the sea or roaring wind, helping you hear spoken words better.

Given that Samsung designs its hardware around its AI features these days, I wouldn't be surprised if iAudio Eraser is dependent on the power of the S26 Ultra's chipset. Still, surely a scaled-down version can make its way to the A57. Right, Samsung?

Search with Finder

I found Search with Finder so useful on the Galaxy S26 Ultra that I'm surprised it isn't available in all smartphones.

On Android phones, Finder is the search bar in the app drawer. When you can't find an app because you have no organizational system to speak of (no shame, I'm the same), you search for it in Finder.

But Search with Finder, as Samsung calls it, supercharges this little tool on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. It will search your entire phone for your target; boarding passes, tagged photos, and email attachments are all within its purview.

This feature was designed for messy organizers like me. I have no central system for organizing files, apps, or documents, and I'm often engaged in wild goose chases trying to find things on my phone. Not with Finder on the Galaxy S26 Ultra: if I'd lost something on my phone, it could find 'er (sorry).

Let me tell you, going from the S26 Ultra to the Search with Finder-less Galaxy A57 was quite a shock; in fact, its absence is what prompted me to write this article.

Search with Finder is basically just an in-depth search function, and I was really surprised when the A57 couldn't find documents I'd received in emails or videos I had saved to its internal storage. It feels like a natural function to bring to all of Samsung's phones, not just the A57.

Bixby to control your phone

This one's less of a "feature I love" kind of deal, but something that really makes sense when you think about it.

Bixby is given more responsibilities on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Oh, you haven't met Bixby yet? It's Samsung's on-board assistant, which most people either forget about or don't realize they're using.

In the S26 Ultra, Bixby can now directly change settings on your phone. If you tell it you're having a problem seeing the screen, or your eyes are aching, it can automatically turn up the brightness or apply the eye comfort shield mode...

... in theory. I found it quite unreliable at implementing any such changes. Much of the time, it just prompted me to do it myself, telling me to go into settings, even though the whole point of this new feature is that Bixby should do it for me.

Anyway, onto the Galaxy A57. This sort of phone is bought by those whose budgets don't stretch to the top Samsung model, but also by general users who just need a mobile from a brand they trust and aren't interested in top-tier features.

This kind of buyer is, if I'm not being too rude, a little technophobic. They don't know the correct word for certain features available on their phone — or perhaps even that those features exist in the first place.

A smart assistant that can directly tweak settings on your behalf makes sense, therefore, in a phone like the Galaxy A57. I can see seniors, for instance, getting loads of mileage from this kind of Bixby tool.

And, yes, I know I've said that it doesn't work all that well on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but I am quite surprised that the A57 doesn't offer more in the way of smart assistant tweakery like this.

Now Brief

What you're looking at above is Now Brief, a feature of Samsung's recent S- and Z-series phones. I like to call it 'Random Affirmations mode' because... well, you can see from the picture. The phone, an inanimate object, is wishing me well?

The point of Now Brief is that it gives you a brief overview of things you need to know. Commonly, it'd show me the weather, and usually a random news article yanked from a publication I'd never touch, as well as some other odd things if relevant: calendar events, reminders I'd made, fitness information I'd tracked, and so on.

I'm not going to pretend that Now Brief is a great feature just yet. It feels like it's missing one or two (or ten) extra data points before it's able to fulfill its purpose of providing a daily (or multi-daily) briefing of things I need to know. In the two months I used the S26 Ultra, Now Brief — more often than not — didn't seem to really understand what I wanted to know, and didn't pull information from many of my apps and tools.

But I see this being the kind of feature that Samsung refines over the next few years and One UI updates, and possibly (hopefully), in a while, it'll be a pivotal part of the smartphone experience.

Now and then, Now Brief became just that for me: I'd look at it and know everything I needed to know. I could put my phone back down, ready for the day (or at least the next hour). These instances were rare, mind, but they did occur.

Now Brief is a big miss on the Galaxy A57. People buying this kind of phone probably aren't power users like those who buy the S26 Ultra. They just want to be able to pick up their handset, see a quick summary of their notifications, events, and interests, and put it back down.

That's why I think Now Brief — even in its current, basic form — would fit really well on Samsung's cheaper phones.

Mint Mobile has been steadily improving its deals over the past few months, but this week, I think I've spotted what has to be the best phone deal yet at the carrier.

Right now, you can get a massive $500 discount on the stunning Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is the deepest price cut I've seen on a Galaxy S26 series device at Mint.

That discount requires a new line, which is the only potential caveat with this particular deal. Even then, Mint Mobile is also throwing in a full year of unlimited data for just $180 right now, which is half price. In short, you're looking at a very cheap plan and phone combo here.

You don't even need to trade in, although you can do so to get a further discount of up to $400 off right now. While a nice little deal on the side, I have seen bigger trade-in rebates at the major carriers, so the upfront discount is definitely the major selling point for this particular listing.

While I'm here, it's worth quickly noting that the $500 price cut on the standard Galaxy S26 at Mint (functionally the same deal) has already sold out. Because of that, I'd definitely recommend picking this one up sooner rather than later if you're interested.

Record-low Galaxy S26 Ultra deal at Mint Mobile

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Mint Mobile

If you'd like to read more about the Galaxy S26 Ultra, head on over to our main Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review. Over there, you can see photo samples, specs, unbiased opinions, and why we rated it as 'the best Android phone ever'.

If the above deal doesn't appeal, check out Mint's other best promos just down below. Included is a great bring-your-own-phone option and this week's excellent discount on the Google Pixel 10 series, which is a great budget alternative to the above deal.

Also available at Mint Mobile this week

2026 could be a big year for foldable phones, as Apple is rumored to finally be launching a foldable of its own, reportedly called the iPhone Ultra.

This could push foldable phones into the mainstream, and Samsung — as well as welcoming the competition from its biggest rival — looks set to cash in, as it’s reportedly launching a foldable phone in a new wider form factor, so that it can better compete with Apple’s device, which itself is expected to be quite wide.

This new phone was once referred to as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide but is now rumored to be launching simply as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, with the more familiar, narrower model said to be landing as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

Obviously, we don’t know for sure how the iPhone Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will compare just yet — nor even whether they'll officially launch — but thanks to leaks, rumors, and previous foldables, we’re starting to get a good idea of what to expect.

iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 rumors: price and availability

We haven’t yet heard much about what the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 might cost, but there’s a good chance it will either be in line with or slightly cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, since it will reportedly have one fewer camera and sit beneath the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. That would mean a starting price of $1,999.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,899 or less.

As for the iPhone Ultra, leaks suggest that it might start at over $2,000 (around £1,485 / AU$2,785), which could mean it’s at least slightly more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

As for availability, it’s likely that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will launch in July, alongside Samsung’s other 2026 foldables. If it really launches with that name, it will probably be available globally, though there's a chance Samsung could limit the Galaxy Z Fold 8 to a few regions to test the waters, just as it did with the Galaxy Z Tri-Fold.

The iPhone Ultra will probably launch in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series, though there has been some talk of a possible delay until 2027. Whenever it does land, it’s likely to be sold globally.

iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 rumors: design and display

The iPhone Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 might have quite similar designs, with both being rumored to have wider, shorter screens than typical book-style foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

This form factor could give you a more widescreen experience when they’re unfolded, but would leave you with a slightly squat device when folded shut.

Going by dummy units, the iPhone Ultra might be 117.71 x 84.27mm when folded, and come in at 11.02mm at its thinnest point and 16.57mm at the camera bump. It could be just 5.24mm when unfolded, though some other leaks put it at a slightly slimmer 4.5mm when unfolded and between 9 and 9.5mm when folded. We’ve also heard repeatedly that there will be no visible crease on the iPhone Ultra.

Various leaks also suggest that it will have a roughly 5.5-inch cover screen and an approximately 7.8-inch foldable display.

As for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, that phone might have a roughly 7.6-inch main screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, and weigh around 200g according to TechManiacs. That same screen size, along with a 5.4-inch cover display, has been put forward by Android Headlines, which adds that the phone will be 123.9 x 161.4 x 4.9mm when unfolded and 123.9 x 82.2 x 9.8mm when folded.

So, Samsung’s phone might be marginally smaller — at least in terms of screen sizes — and thinner than Apple’s, though there’s a high chance it will also have a more visible crease.

iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 rumors: cameras

It’s expected that the iPhone Ultra will have two cameras on the back: specifically, a wide and an ultra-wide, both of which will be 48MP, according to leaker Digital Chat Station. The iPhone Ultra is also expected to have cameras in both its screens, and while no specs have been leaked yet, they might be 18MP like the selfie cameras on the iPhone 17 line.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 likewise looks set to have a dual-lens camera, and as with the iPhone, you’ll probably get wide and ultra-wide lenses. Leaks also point to similar numbers of megapixels, with both sensors apparently being 50MP. The phone is also almost certainly going to have a camera in each screen, with these rumored to be 10MP.

So, on paper, there might not be much to choose between these phones when it comes to the cameras, but it will be interesting to see how they compare in practice.

iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 rumors: performance and software

The iPhone Ultra will almost certainly have the same chipset as the iPhone 18 Pro Max if it launches this year, which likely means a top-end A20 Pro chipset. Leaker Fixed Focus Digital suggests the phone could also have a vapor chamber, which would further boost performance.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, meanwhile, is likely to have a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, which is also very powerful — this is what you’ll find in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, for example.

So, both of these should be very powerful phones, though the iPhone Ultra, with its slightly newer chipset and rumored vapor chamber, could have the edge in terms of performance.

As for software, the iPhone Ultra will likely run on iOS — specifically the yet-to-launch iOS 27, if it lands in September — though there's a small chance that Apple could debut some foldable-specific software for its first foldable device.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, on the other hand, will run Android — most likely Android 17, overlaid with Samsung’s One UI. These are both highly capable operating systems, so it really comes down to personal preference as to which is best.

iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 rumors: battery

The iPhone Ultra could have a surprisingly high-capacity battery for a foldable phone, with one leak putting it at 5,800mAh. A slightly earlier leak from Lanzuk puts it at between 5,400mAh and 5,800mAh, but even at that lower end, it would still have a lot of foldables beat.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is rumored to have a 4,800mAh battery — so not as good as the iPhone, though still better than the 4,400mAh-equipped Galaxy Z Fold 7.

iPhone Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 rumors: early verdict

Based on what we’ve heard so far, the iPhone Ultra could have a more powerful chipset and a bigger battery than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, as well as a less visible crease.

But it could also be thicker and have a higher price, and there may not be much to choose between the two phones' cameras and screens.

So, it’s sounding like the iPhone Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 might be quite evenly matched overall. We'll likely find out for sure before the end of the year, as we're expecting Samsung to debut the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in July, and Apple to debut the iPhone Ultra in September.

Which foldable phone are you most excited for? Let us know in the poll or comments section below.

2026 will be the year foldable phones sink or swim. Samsung has been chipping away at the category for several years now — its latest book-style foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, is the best foldable phone money can buy — but these niche, expensive devices still represent less than 3% of the global smartphone market.

Could that be about to change? Apple is strongly rumored to be launching its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Ultra, in September, and I’ve been itching to ask Samsung for its thoughts on whether Apple’s entry into the foldable market will boost or threaten its own success.

Given that the iPhone Ultra doesn’t exist yet, and that Samsung rarely acknowledges its competitors by name, I’ve been waiting to broach the subject with the Korean tech giant — but in my preparation for this year’s Galaxy Unpacked event, I stumbled across a revealing 2025 interview in which Samsung addresses the potential implications of a foldable iPhone head-on.

Here’s how the President and COO of the company’s Mobile eXperience (MX) division, Won-joon Choi, responded to questions posed by Bloomberg’s Shery Ahn about growing competition in the foldable market:

Shery Ahn: How does Samsung think about competition? Because you have so many Chinese makers coming out with foldables with good cameras.

Won-joon Choi: You know, rather than focusing on the competition, I think we have been focusing on our consumers. What is the experience that we can bring to consumers, and how complete are those experiences? I think healthy competition with other companies will bring more innovations, and then bring more benefits to consumers. So we are welcoming others to join this category, which we created back in 2019.

SA: Even if Apple comes out with a foldable next year, which is what people are saying, how do you keep that edge?

WC: We've been doing this for many years, and we have accumulated a lot of technologies and know-how. Having another global company join this category, I think it's good for the industry, and also, it's going to be great for consumers.

Now, for obvious reasons, Samsung isn’t going to publicly admit that it’s fearful of Apple’s entry into a market that it’s dominated for years, but I do think Choi was being more honest than diplomatic in his response.

The emergence of improbably thin and lightweight foldables like the Honor Magic V3 and Oppo Find N5 forced Samsung to step up its game with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and I expect that the market-leading IP68 durability rating of the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold won’t be market-leading any longer once the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrives later this year.

Choi’s assertion that “competition with other companies will bring more benefits to consumers” has already proven itself to be true, then; and if Apple delivers something unique with the iPhone Ultra — whether that’s a hardware- or software-related innovation — you can bet that the likes of Samsung, Honor, and Oppo will endeavor to replicate that innovation in their own future products.

As for whether “having another global company join this category” is “good for the industry,” Choi will likely be proven right about that, too.

Counterpoint Research predicts that global foldable smartphone shipments will grow 20% in 2026 following Apple’s entry into the category, and I suspect that this rise will be driven by existing iPhone users upgrading to a foldable iPhone, rather than existing Galaxy Z Fold users switching to a foldable iPhone. The market will expand, but I don't think Apple will eat Samsung's lunch (existing foldable-averse Android users aren't going to be convinced by an iOS-powered foldable, that's for sure).

Of course, Samsung won’t want consumers to forget that it stuck by and popularized foldable phones when other companies wouldn’t — just as it pioneered the large-screen phones we’ve all become accustomed to using today.

But Choi’s addendum — “we are welcoming others to join this category, which we created back in 2019” — suggests Samsung won't simply share the foldable stage with Apple without reminding buyers of its heritage in this long-existing market.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are the two most obvious choices if you want a no-compromise flagship phone in 2026.

Both are big, powerful, expensive, and built around the same basic promise: you get huge displays, elite cameras, long battery life, high-end performance, and a growing number of AI tools if you're willing to pay the high asking price.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S26 Ultra are also very different phones. Apple’s flagship is the cleaner, more tightly integrated option, offering iOS and MagSafe. Samsung’s Ultra is the more maximalist device, with the S Pen, a sharper display, a more flexible camera setup, and a software experience packed with Galaxy AI and Google-powered features.

For many people, this choice will come down to ecosystem.

If you already use Apple products like the Apple Watch, MacBook, and iPad, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has an obvious pull. If you prefer Android, multitasking, stylus support, and more control over how your phone works, the Galaxy S26 Ultra makes a very strong case.

But there are still big differences in price, design, display, cameras, performance, software, and battery life between these two phones — so let’s break them down.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: specs comparison

Before we dig into the details, here’s an overview of both phones’ key specs:

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: price and availability

The iPhone 17 Pro Max went on sale in September 2025, with prices starting at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149 for the 256GB model. The 17 Pro Max is also available with 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB of storage, with the top configuration rising to $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,799.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra arrived later, in March 2026, and starts at $1,299 / £1,249 / AU$2,149, making it slightly more expensive than Apple’s flagship in the US, slightly more affordable in the UK, and level in Australia at launch.

It's worth noting that the Galaxy S26 Ultra's storage runs from 256GB to 1TB; there is no 2TB option, unlike with the iPhone.

Both phones are widely available through their makers, carriers, and major retailers, so this is less about finding stock and more about finding the right deal that suits you.

Winner: Tie — unless you specifically need 2TB of storage, in which case the iPhone 17 Pro Max takes it.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: design

There is no getting away from the fact that these are both very large phones, but Samsung does more to make its Ultra feel slightly more manageable.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is slightly taller and wider than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but it is much thinner at 7.9mm and noticeably lighter at 214g.

The softened corners also help it feel less slab-like than older Ultra models, while the built-in S Pen remains Samsung’s clearest hardware advantage.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the more dramatic redesign versus its predecessor. Apple moved to an aluminum unibody (which facilitates the inclusion of a new vapor cooling chamber), added a full-width camera plateau, and kept both the Action button and Camera Control.

As such, the 17 Pro Max feels like a clearer break from the previous few Pro Max models, and the new thermal design gives the changes a practical purpose beyond looks.

Still, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the easier phone to live with day-to-day, giving you the same 6.9-inch screen size in a slimmer, lighter body, while also finding room for a stylus.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: display

Both phones give you an almost tablet-sized 6.9-inch OLED display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, so either one is built for streaming, gaming, editing photos, reading, and general big-screen phone use.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the brighter panel on paper, with a peak outdoor brightness of 3,000 nits, which gives it an edge if you often use your phone outside.

Samsung fights back with resolution and features. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s screen is sharper than the iPhone’s display, and its 1-120Hz refresh range gives it the same smooth scrolling and power-saving flexibility you would expect from a top-end flagship.

Samsung's new Privacy Display feature also gives it a practical advantage in public spaces, especially if you often work from cafes or public transport.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: cameras

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a simpler camera pitch: it's got three 48MP rear cameras, covering main, ultra-wide, and telephoto shots, plus a new 18MP Center Stage front camera.

Apple is offering a more balanced system than previous Pro Max models — especially now the telephoto camera can handle 4x optical zoom and 8x optical-quality shots — and the selfie camera is also a real upgrade; it uses subject tracking to automatically keep you in the frame, and lets you switch between portrait and landscape modes.

Samsung gives you more hardware to play with. The S26 Ultra has a 200MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 50MP telephoto for longer-range shots, plus a 12MP selfie camera with a wider field of view.

Its camera setup is less of a clean overhaul than Apple’s, but the extra lens and longer zoom range make it more flexible, especially if you often shoot subjects at a distance.

For video, the Galaxy S26 Ultra supports 8K shooting at 30fps, whereas the iPhone is capped at 4K at 120 fps. That said, with its Apple ProRes and ProRes RAW support, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is our favored option for consistent, high-quality video results.

This comparison is a close call because the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the stronger selfie upgrade, a very consistent rear camera setup, and impressive video capabilities. The Galaxy S26 Ultra still has the edge for pure versatility, with more lenses, more zoom reach, and the bigger main sensor.

Winner: Tie

iPhone 17 Pro Max camera samples

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra camera samples

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: performance and software

The iPhone 17 Pro Max runs on Apple’s A19 Pro chip, with improved cooling to help it hold high performance for longer.

The 17 Pro Max feels built for heavy use, from gaming and video editing to AI features, and iOS 26 also benefits from Apple’s usual joined-up approach, with the chip, hardware, software, and wider ecosystem all working together.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra counters with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, plus either 12GB or 16GB of RAM. It is a true ultra-premium Android flagship, with more flexibility for multitasking, split-screen apps, S Pen notes, customisation, and productivity.

Samsung is better for flexibility, stylus support, and Android customisation, but the iPhone’s combination of Apple silicon, iOS, cooling, and ecosystem integration gives it more cohesive performance in our testing.

Winner: iPhone 17 Pro Max

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: battery

The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 5,088mAh battery, based on reported capacity figures (Apple does not share these details officially), and Apple rates it for up to 37 hours of video playback.

In our day-to-day use, it's comfortably an all-day phone, with enough headroom for heavy camera use, navigation, streaming, and gaming. It also supports fast USB-C charging and 25W MagSafe/Qi2 wireless charging.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, so there is very little difference between these two devices in terms of raw capacity, and indeed it carried well past 24 hours of operation in our testing.

Samsung has the advantage for wired charging, with 60W speeds that should get you topped up faster than the iPhone. The S26 also supports 25W wireless charging, putting it on par with Apple there, though there's no MagSafe-style wireless charging to speak of.

So, this comparison is close... again. The iPhone has excellent endurance and the convenience of MagSafe, but Samsung’s faster wired charging is more useful when you need a quick refill before heading out.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: verdict

The iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra are — unsurprisingly — close enough that the “best” choice depends less on raw power and more on how you actually use your phone.

Choose the iPhone 17 Pro Max if you want the smoother all-round experience. Its biggest strengths are consistency, ecosystem integration, long-term performance, and a camera system that feels easy to trust. It's also the better fit if you already use Apple's other products.

Choose the Galaxy S26 Ultra if you want the phone that simply does more. The S Pen, sharper display, lighter design, longer camera reach, faster charging, and broader AI toolkit make it the more versatile device, especially for power users.

Overall, the Galaxy S26 Ultra wins more individual categories, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max may still be the better buy for many people. Samsung has the stronger spec-sheet argument; Apple has the more cohesive flagship experience.

Winner: Tie (sorry!)

• A photo has been taken of what appears to be the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
• This is the rumored new wider foldable Samsung might be working on
• We've also seen a comparison image showing it alongside the more conventional Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

The long-rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide — which, confusingly, will reportedly launch simply as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 — might be Samsung’s worst-kept secret, and now we’ve seemingly seen the phone in the flesh for the first time.

A photo shared on DCInside’s forum (via @UniverseIce) shows what appears to be the phone being used in a restaurant, presumably by a Samsung employee.

It’s housed in an anti-leak case, designed to hide the details, but you can see that it has a wider screen than a typical phone, and that there’s a dual-lens camera on the back.

Short and squat

If you’re wondering just how much wider than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7’s successor — now reportedly called the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra — this device will be, @UniverseIce has also shared comparison images, as you can see below.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra appears tall and narrow, and has a triple-lens camera, much like its predecessor, while the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 (Wide) has a shorter, wider appearance.

That should make the latter phone good for viewing wide-screen content like movies when unfolded, but it leaves it with a rather unusual form factor when folded and used like a conventional smartphone.

So, it will be interesting to see whether it’s successful, but given that the taller model apparently has the ‘Ultra’ suffix, it’s likely that this new wide version will be cheaper, and it’s also expected to be closer to Apple’s foldable iPhone Ultra’s form factor. Odd or not, then, it’s a form factor that Apple might be about to make popular.

In any case, we probably won’t be waiting too much longer for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, as both of these phones — along with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 — will likely launch in July.

• We've got a newly leaked look at the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide
• It could be the thinnest Samsung foldable to date
• A 'wide' foldable iPhone from Apple is also expected this year

This could be the year when the foldable phone market really gets interesting, and a new leak has given us what could be our best hint yet at the design of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide — and it looks to be an impressively thin phone.

Well-known tipster Sonny Dickson described the thinness as "insane" when showing off a short clip of a Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide dummy unit. These physical mock-ups are made from information sourced from the supply chain, and give accessory makers a chance to get their wares ready ahead of time.

The leaker compares the thinness of the foldable to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge — when unfolded, at least — but the replies to the original post are less positive, with adjectives like "weird" and "chunky" used to describe the handset.

Based on information recently sourced by SamMobile, this 'wide' foldable will actually be called the Galaxy Z Fold 8, while the true successor to last year's Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is going to be named the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

Here comes Apple

If you're wondering where this 'wide' nomenclature has come from, it describes the shorter, wider aspect ratio for the phone display — both when opened and closed. It's a move away from the tall and narrow screens of current book-style foldables.

While the currently popular form factor — used on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, for example — means foldables are more like standard phones when closed, when they're opened out they're rather square-ish. With wider displays, foldables will be more like conventional tablets when opened (and better for use cases like watching movies).

This change hasn't come out of nowhere: the long-rumored iPhone Fold is expected to use a wide form factor, with something like a 4:3 aspect ratio when open. Samsung clearly wants to get ahead of Apple on this, as Huawei has already done.

All the indications are that the foldable iPhone is launching in September, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, perhaps with new hinge technology that makes the crease almost invisible. For foldable phone fans, there's a lot to look forward to.

• Samsung's new partnership with CLEAR allows US passport holders to add their IDs to Samsung Wallet
• You can use Samsung ID with CLEAR at 250 TSA checkpoints for a smoother security experience
• It's only available for domestic flights and not international ones

Samsung has unveiled a handy new feature that frequent travelers will be happy to see — you can now have your passport stored right on your Galaxy phone.

In a new partnership with CLEAR, Samsung Electronics America is launching Samsung ID with CLEAR, a digital passport that you can add to your Samsung Wallet. It’s only available to users with a US passport, and is restricted to domestic flights and not international ones.

Samsung ID with CLEAR is designed to make your travel experience faster and smoother, allowing you to present your digital ID at airport security by tapping your phone or scanning a QR code, without needing to present your physical passport.

Once you've added your passport to your Samsung Wallet, you'll be able to verify your identity at over 250 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints. You can also use it for proving your age at a number of sporting and entertainment venues, making it easier for you to purchase alcoholic beverages and access age-restricted areas for example.

I know what you’re thinking: ‘How secure is Samsung’s new digital passport?’. Well, the tech giant is ensuring that only you will be able to unlock your ID, as either your fingerprint or a secure PIN number is required to access it. Once you’ve entered your passport information, CLEAR will verify this data, and Samsung Knox will handle hardware and software security, meaning your passport information will be encrypted directly on your device.

While Samsung is a little behind on the digital ID front — Apple launched its own version in November 2025 — the addition of Samsung ID with CLEAR will be a welcomed feature for Galaxy phone owners who are also frequent fliers. That said, the company suggests that you should still have your physical passport on-hand, just in case you need a backup.

Announcing the feature, Samsung said: “By enabling them to leave their physical IDs in their bag and rely on secure digital identity instead, we’re combining the best of convenience and security to help users get where they’re going.”

How to set up Samsung ID with CLEAR

The process of creating your new digital ID is simple — you’ll just need a valid US passport to get started.

Once you’ve launched Samsung Wallet on your device, open the ‘Quick Access’ tab’ and then tap the ‘+’ sign. From there, all you have to do is tap ‘Digital IDs’ and find ‘Samsung ID with CLEAR', where you’ll be required to follow a series of prompts. After your passport has been approved, you’ll be free to use it and speed through airport security.

• Leaked case renders show the possible design of the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE
• The only real change appears to be a new camera block
• Samsung users aren't happy with how familiar it looks

There’s likely to be one more member of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, with the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE expected to launch later this year — but if leaks are to be believed, it might not prove very popular.

X user and tech journalist @Mohammed_K_2010 has shared what appear to be marketing images for cases designed for the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, revealing the look of the phone in the process, and visually it doesn’t appear much different to the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE.

The only real change seems to be that the three rear lenses are now housed in a raised camera block, rather than jutting out individually, but otherwise this looks much the same as its predecessor.

While we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt, it’s a design that makes sense, as the standard Samsung Galaxy S26 had the same minor visual change. But it’s also a design that seems to be disappointing Samsung fans.

Over on Reddit, comments include a sarcastic “wow, what an unexpected design”, along with “not really an upgrade”, “the design has become as cheap-looking as the Galaxy A series”, and “this has to be a joke.”

Few upgrades under the hood either

If you factor in previously rumored Galaxy S26 FE specs, things don’t get much better. The incoming phone will reportedly have a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, an Exynos 2500 chipset, a 5,000mAh battery with 45W charging, an IP68 rating, a 50MP wide camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, an 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP front-facing camera.

Of those, the only real upgrades are a new chipset and a battery with a 100mAh capacity boost, so this could be just a very slight improvement over its predecessor.

It might at least come in some different colors, with leaks pointing to purple, black, gray, and white shades, but that’s hardly likely to tempt many buyers.

We’ll probably find out how accurate this all is — and whether many people actually want to buy the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE — in September or October, as that’s around when it’s likely to launch.

• Samsung might launch a Galaxy S27 Pro next year
• This would apparently be a compact alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra
• It could have a 6.47-inch screen and launch alongside the base, Plus, and Ultra models

Samsung could be going from three Galaxy S models to four next year, and we’re not talking about a return of the Edge line. Instead, the company might launch a new ‘Pro’ phone.

This is according to a report in ETNews (via 9to5Google), and while this isn’t quite the first time we’ve heard of a Pro-branded Galaxy phone (rumors of a Galaxy S26 Pro swirled last year), there are some new details here. For one thing, it will reportedly have a screen that’s just 6.47 inches in size, making it only marginally larger than the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy S26, and much smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra or Plus.

The other new detail is that the new phone will apparently launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy S27, Galaxy S27 Plus, and Galaxy S27 Ultra, rather than instead of one of them.

Small but mighty

So, what will the Galaxy S27 Pro offer that’s different from the base Galaxy S27? Well, as the name suggests, this will apparently have far higher-end specs, putting it more in line with the Ultra model, albeit without S Pen support.

In other words, this would be a compact option for people who still want high-end specs and features. How successful that will be remains to be seen, but it would mean Samsung finally offers a device that’s more of a direct rival to the iPhone 17 Pro, so it makes a certain amount of sense.

And early reactions are largely positive, with people on Reddit saying things like “this will be amazing,” “that’s so good I’m buying that one next time,” and “so excited about this possibility.” So, it sounds like Samsung might be on to something.

Of course, the Galaxy S27 Pro is just a rumor for now, but if it does exist, it will probably launch in early 2027, alongside the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S27 series.

If you've been eying up the excellent Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, patiently waiting for the next discount, then now's your chance to score a great deal. The official Samsung Store has just listed an impressive $250 discount on unlocked devices as a Memorial Day special.

We've seen this price cut on rare occasions before, but it's a return to the previous record-low price for unlocked devices. Considering it's available across all storage variants and colors, this is a great opportunity to get one of the best phones money can buy for a little less than the fortune it usually commands.

While you're at Samsung, you can check out the exclusive colours available only at the official store. Samsung is also offering an additional $100 in credit as a bonus gift, which you can use to get some cheap earbuds or even a smartwatch to pair up with your new phone.

Note that the official Samsung Store also operates a trade-in service that you can use to get up to $720 off a new phone. Annoyingly, you can't stack that with the upfront discount for a super-cheap phone, but it is still a pretty good deal if you're looking for an unlocked device.

Record-low Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra deal

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Samsung

The best Samsung Galaxy S phone yet

In our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, we called the device the best Galaxy S phone yet from the brand, even though in our opinion, this is one is a relatively iterative upgrade over the previous model.

Samsung has managed to push forward the overall design, performance, and AI in the Galaxy S26 Ultra without raising the price, which is impressive. The killer new features, in our opinion, are the Privacy display and Super Steady video — quite innovative and exclusive to this Galaxy model, specifically. The major selling point, however, remains the device's incredible display, excellent cameras, and S-Pen support.

• One UI 8.5 has started rolling out to four more Samsung phones
• These include the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy A56, and Galaxy A36
• The update brings AirDrop support to Quick Share, among other things

Samsung’s One UI 8.5 rollout is continuing, as following on from its launch on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series and some other models on May 6, it’s now coming to four more Samsung phones.

These — as spotted by SamMobile across a series of articles — include the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Samsung Galaxy A56, and the Samsung Galaxy A36. This software has already come to more recent Samsung foldables, but this is the first time we’re seeing it on any Galaxy A models.

However, initially, it’s just South Korea that’s getting the One UI 8.5 update on these phones, but it’s likely, based on past form, that other countries will also get it in the next few days, so keep an eye out if you have one of these handsets.

You’ll probably get a notification when the update is available, but you can manually check in Settings > Software update > Download and install.

AirDrop and more

One UI 8.5 comes with numerous new features and improvements — though not all of them will necessarily be available on all phones.

The headline feature is arguably AirDrop support over Quick Share, but there are also other improvements to Quick Share, and to Photo Assist, as well as a more effective power saving mode, security improvements, and tweaks to the Weather app, the My Files app, and more.

So, it’s an update that’s worth downloading as soon as it’s available, and if you have one of the four phones above, it should be available very soon.

Ask anyone who's used it, including us: the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the best phones money can buy right now.

In our review, we heaped praise on its excellent cameras, powerful performance, neat Privacy Display, and handy stylus. It continues Samsung's run of ultra-powerful flagships, bringing a few useful improvements over its predecessor.

But it's not the perfect phone, and one aspect reliably puts potential buyers off: the high price. You'll have to pay at least $1,299 / £1,279 / AU$2,199 to enjoy the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which is a lot for a handheld gadget.

And sure, the newest phone has the newest features, but older models still have lots of the same hardware (sometimes better hardware), and some even have an arguably more premium design, which Samsung retired a few generations ago.

Older Galaxy Ultras are still on sale, too. Some third-party retailers continue to stock certain models, but they're mostly available second-hand or, more reliably, through refurbished schemes, which ensure the phone is working and has replacement parts (here's how to stay safe when buying a refurbished phone).

So, if the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn't fit into your budget, here are a few older models to consider, along with good reasons to pick them up.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

If you want an absolute bargain alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, but don't mind a bit of risk too, then the Galaxy S22 Ultra might be worth a look.

Even in 2026, this phone still has solid specs. It's got four rear cameras, a premium build, a stylus, and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset that remains competitive in the mid-range to this day; you're unlikely to find equivalent hardware in a recently released $300 / £300 / AU$500 phone.

So, what's that risk I mentioned? Well, the S22 Ultra saw Android updates up to One UI 8, so it's no longer getting new software upgrades, and security upgrades are up in the air, too. If you like getting new features or keeping your phone protected from threats, then you're out of luck with this model.

Frankly, as a tech expert, I wouldn't advise picking up the Galaxy S22 Ultra to use as a daily driver phone. But if you want a backup phone for photography or gaming, it could be a bargain buy. This is the least recommendable option on my list, but I thought I'd include it for those reasons alone.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra the goldilocks option? It's old enough to be a cheap pick, but new enough to remain in line for one more major software update, which will bring a handful of extra features. It'll also continue to receive security patches until 2028.

The S23 Ultra is also the last of the great Galaxy Ultras to pack certain premium features. You won't get a 10x optical zoom periscope lens if you go more modern, nor a handset with a dramatic curving waterfall display. The S23 Ultra was the first Galaxy Ultra to pack a 200MP main camera; it also still has Bluetooth in its stylus, and its shell is made of titanium.

A fair amount of the S23 Ultra's specs are still used in the S26 Ultra, too, like the 5,000mAh battery and Dynamic AMOLED 2X display technology (although the screen on the older model is 0.1 inches smaller).

Naturally, the phone's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset isn't going to be quite as powerful as that of modern Galaxies, and some of the newer software features are missing. But the Galaxy S23 Ultra is an absolute bargain, especially if you buy it renewed.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Galaxy phones made a noticeable step towards modernity with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is an older mobile with a fair amount in common with the S26 Ultra.

That means you're getting the blocky, angular design of the newer phones, though the S24 Ultra is made of titanium, unlike the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

We noted in our review that, although its on-paper specs match those of the S23 Ultra in a lot of ways, the S24 Ultra performs better in certain departments. We found its battery life to be superior, for example, and its all-round camera performance is better too (even if software updates have brought optimization tweaks to the older models).

The S24 Ultra's current price puts it on par with certain mid-range phones, and so it's a much cheaper option than the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Crucially, there's another big reason why you might want to pick this phone as your S26 Ultra alternative: instead of the four years of Android updates pledged to its predecessors, the S24 Ultra gets seven years. That means it'll keep getting new software until 2031. In other words, you've got loads of gas left in the tank.

If you want a device that'll keep receiving updates for years, then this is the oldest model to consider.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Perhaps the safest choice for a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra-like phone would be the previous-generation model.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a lot in common with its recent sibling (too much, according to some testers). The main design change is that the S25 Ultra is slightly thicker and heavier, but it looks largely identical, save for a floating camera island on the newer phone.

Its specs are very similar, too; you'll get the same camera array, display, battery, and charging capabilities as the S26 Ultra. One year of downgrading won't get you a lesser device; the newer model simply has a more powerful chipset, and some extra software tricks like Privacy Display and Horizon Lock.

Like the S24 Ultra, the S25 Ultra is also confirmed to receive seven years of software updates, so it'll be covered until 2032.

So if they're so similar, why get the older version? You already know the answer: the Galaxy S25 Ultra is now significantly cheaper than the S26 Ultra, and it's on sale more frequently, too. In fact, it's pretty easy to find new S25 Ultras going for cheaper than Samsung's own Re-Newed models, which shows how far the prices have fallen.

What about an even older Galaxy Ultra?

There are two previous models of Ultra not mentioned yet: the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and Galaxy S20 Ultra. Before that, the suffix wasn't used, with the Galaxy S10 only getting a 'Plus' model, which was mostly the same as the base version.

These mobiles have a lot of specs in common with newer models, but they're probably a little too old to be worth considering.

For one, they're no longer supported by software updates, and if they get damaged, replacement parts will be harder to find. They're old enough, too, that you won't get the full performance enjoyed when they came out five-plus years ago.

But more simply, they're much harder to buy. I can barely find new versions on sale, and even refurbished ones are few and far between.

Nope: if you want a cheaper Galaxy S Ultra, pick one of the above models, or perhaps check out our list of the best Android phones to see non-Samsung alternatives.

• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide might just have a 50MP main camera
• That would almost certainly make it weaker for photography than the standard Z Fold 8, which is likely to have a 200MP camera
• However, it could at least have a decent battery capacity

If you were hoping the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide would be able to come close to the standard Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 for photography, we’ve got some bad news, because the latest leak suggests it will be significantly worse.

We were already expecting this phone to just have two rear cameras, rather than the three that we’re likely to get on the Z Fold 8, and now we’ve learned that the main (wide) camera might be worse here too.

According to GalaxyClub (via GSMArena), the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide will have just a 50MP main camera, whereas the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 — and likely the Z Fold 8 — has a 200MP one.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide will at least reportedly have a 50MP ultra-wide camera, which would likely be a match for the Galaxy Z Fold 8’s, and an upgrade on the 12MP one used by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. But if this claim is accurate, then its zoom skills probably won’t be up to much, since it won’t have either a dedicated telephoto camera or a big enough main sensor for a decent sensor crop zoom.

All in all, this phone sounds closer to the Galaxy Z Flip 8 in terms of camera hardware, which is rumored to also have a 50MP main sensor, albeit joined by a weaker 12MP ultra-wide.

A disappointing revelation

Prospective buyers understandably aren’t happy about this rumor, with one of the comments under the aforementioned GSMArena article reading “removed from my wishlist”, and another describing the upcoming phone as “another extremely overpriced Samsung device with outdated midrange cameras.”

Still, there is some good news, as today’s report also echoes previous claims that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide will have a 4,800mAh battery, and the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 will have a 5,000mAh one, both of which would be up on the 4,400mAh battery inside the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

We’ll probably find out how accurate any of this is in July, as that’s when these phones are likely to launch.

• Samsung is rolling out the first One UI 9 beta
• This is the company's version of Android 17
• It's initially coming to the Galaxy S26 series, and includes improvements to Samsung Notes, Contacts, the Quick Panel, security, and accessibility

Samsung has only just started widely rolling out One UI 8.5, but already there’s now a beta version of One UI 9, which you’ll be able to grab if you have a Samsung Galaxy S26, Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, or Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

This beta is built on Google’s upcoming Android 17 operating system update, and the first beta includes upgrades for five apps and features, including Samsung Notes, which is getting a wider variety of pen line styles, plus decorative tapes.

The Contacts app is also getting an upgrade, with this now offering direct access to Creative Studio, so you can create personalized profile cards without switching apps.

The Quick Panel is now more customizable, too, as you can now independently adjust the brightness, sound, and media player panels, complete with more size options to choose from.

Security and accessibility improvements

There are also security improvements with One UI 9, as if a high-risk app is detected, you’ll be warned about it and it will be blocked from being installed or opened.

Finally, One UI 9 also includes some accessibility improvements, such as an adjustable Mouse Key speed that enables smoother cursor control, a new Text Spotlight feature, which can display selected text larger or more clearly in a floating window, and a combined TalkBack package, which packages up various accessibility features that were previously offered separately by Samsung and Google.

If you’d like to give the beta a spin, you can join the beta program via the Samsung Members app. The beta may not be available to you quite yet, though, with Samsung simply saying that its rollout starts this week for countries including the US, UK, Germany, India, South Korea, and Poland. So, keep an eye out for it if you have a Galaxy S26 series phone.

And for a look at the latest Android 17 features, check out our roundup of the best Android 17 features announced at Google's Android Show event.

The 2026 edition of The Android Show was a dizzying display of AI-related buzzwords (I’m still not 100% sure of the difference between Gemini Intelligence and Personal Intelligence), but of all the Android 17 features announced during the pre-Google I/O broadcast, I’m particularly excited by Create My Widget.

Custom widgets have been a feature of Android since 2009 (in the resizable, interactive sense), but in Android 17, Google is “taking the first step in generative UI” by adding Gemini's AI powers into the widget-making process.

Create My Widget will let you build custom widgets by simply describing the type of widget you want using natural language. Yes, really. Google gave prompt examples such as “countdown to my first marathon” and “suggest three high-protein meal prep recipes every week," to which Create My Widget served up some genuinely useful-looking results.

It’s true that apps like KWGT and Widgetopia already give Android users plenty of widget customization options, but these widgets still rely on predefined data formulas like the weather, battery percentage, and stock market performance (unless you’re comfortable developing your own code-based widgets).

Create My Widget, on the other hand, pulls data from your calendar, inbox, and messaging apps (privately, of course) to deliver widgets that are genuinely personalized to you. And as an iPhone user, I don’t see how iOS can compete with this level of first-party personalization.

At WWDC 2025, Apple brushed away criticism towards its lack of AI progress by dazzling iPhone fans with a visual overhaul of iOS — but it can only use that trick once. At WWDC 2026 in June, the company must finally deliver on the promise of Siri 2.0 and bring meaningful agentic AI features to the table, lest iOS 27 look thoroughly medieval in comparison to Android 17.

And Create My Widget is far from the only useful AI tool coming to Android 17.

We’ve rounded up the best Android 17 features announced at The Android Show in a separate article, but Google’s new Gemini Intelligence umbrella includes multi-step task automation — which, if it works as promised, could be like having a PA in your pocket — Gemini integration in Chrome, improved Autofill capabilities, and a new Rambler tool for more accurate speech-to-text conversion.

It’s noteworthy, too, that all of these tools have been announced before Google I/O proper, which is scheduled to kick off on May 19. By the time WWDC 2026 rolls around on June 8, Apple’s competition may look even more formidable than it does now (although it's worth remembering that Google is now Apple's AI partner— though we don't yet know the details of that relationship).

Google says Gemini Intelligence features, including Create My Widget, will “roll out in waves starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer,” and “will become available across your Android watch, car, glasses, and laptops later this year.”

For the latest on what else was revealed at Google’s Android Show event, check out our deep dives into the new Googlebook laptops and the redesigned Android Auto.

Google’s pre-I/O Android Show for 2026 has now concluded, and it was packed full of announcements surrounding new features and upgrades to existing Android tools.

Many of these upgrades are related to AI, as you might expect, but we also saw Google announce new emojis, improvements to Android security, and a whole lot more.

So, below, we’ve rounded up seven of the biggest and best Android 17 upgrades that were announced at The Android Show.

1. Gemini Intelligence

Gemini Intelligence is perhaps the biggest single announcement we saw at The Android Show — it's essentially an upgrade to Gemini that makes it a lot more capable and more of an agentic AI.

With this upgrade, Gemini can seamlessly move between apps to carry out tasks for you, with minimal oversight on your part. One example given was long-pressing the power button when a grocery list is visible on your phone, and then asking Gemini to build a shopping cart with all those items for delivery.

Another was taking a photo of a travel brochure and asking it to find a similar trip for six people on Expedia. You can then track Gemini’s progress with the task via notifications.

Plus, Gemini Intelligence also allows you to build custom widgets with a new ‘Create My Widget’ feature. You could, for example, ask it to suggest a new vegetarian meal recipe every day, and it will then create a resizable home screen widget for that specific request.

These tools will be rolling out from “this summer”, starting with the latest Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones. For the full list of features, check out our dedicated Gemini Intelligence features roundup.

2. Rambler

Using speech-to-text can massively speed up your communication in messaging apps, but it’s not perfect in its current state. In recent years, it has generally gotten better at understanding what you’re saying, but presenting an exact one-to-one version of your speech in text means you’ll probably see various “uhms” and “ahs” or repeated statements, as tends to happen in speech where you’re thinking about what you’re saying as you say it.

But Google’s new Rambler feature (which technically falls under the aforementioned Google Intelligence umbrella) will simply identify and extract the important parts of what you’ve said, and translate them into a clear and concise message.

For the multilingual among you, Rambler can also handle seamless switches between languages in a single message, and it doesn’t store or save the message data, so you shouldn’t need to worry about privacy.

3. Gemini in Chrome

Gemini’s Chrome implementation is also getting smarter and more agentic, as starting in late June, it will have an auto browse feature that can do things like book appointments or reserve parking spots for you via Chrome. This isn’t a totally new feature, but it is new to Android.

Gemini in Chrome is also getting better at providing contextual assistance, as it will be able to provide responses that are tailored to your hobbies, interests, and life (assuming you opt into Personal Intelligence).

And it can work beyond Chrome by, for example, adding things to your calendar, searching your Gmail, or adding to-do lists to Keep.

Plus, there will soon be Nano Banana integration, allowing you to create new images and customize ones you’ve found online directly in Chrome.

4. 3D emojis

Emojis are also getting an upgrade, as Google has announced a new range of 3D emojis, dubbed Noto 3D.

Google claims these icons will add more physicality to your online communication, so your feelings still have weight even when expressed through messages.

Those are some lofty claims, but if nothing else, it’s always nice to have some new emojis to choose from, and these new ones will be landing later this year, starting with Pixel phones.

5. Pause Point

Pause Point is a new tool designed to help you spend less time on your phone — or at least, less time scrolling apps that are more addictive than additive.

It does this by letting you choose which apps you want it to be enabled for, and then presenting you with a 10-second ‘pause’ before you can access one of those apps. During this time, it will give you the option to do a breathing exercise, set a timer to limit how long you spend in the app, look at some of your favorite photos, or switch to an alternative suggested app — one that you perhaps consider more worthy of your time.

Plus, Pause Point requires you to restart your phone to turn it off, so you’re less likely to disable it in a moment of weakness.

6. New creator tools

Google is also introducing new ways to create and share with Android 17. These include ‘Screen Reactions’, which make it a breeze to record both yourself and your screen at the same time.

There are also improvements to how your photos and videos look on Instagram when using an Android phone, with Google working with Meta to enable ultra HDR capture and playback, built-in video stabilization, and improved low light performance.

Plus, Google and Meta are rolling out some Android-exclusive tools for Instagram’s Edits app. These include ‘smart enhance’, which uses on-device AI to upscale your photos and videos with a single tap, and sound separation, meaning that the Edits app can automatically identify and separate audio tracks, so you can more easily boost the sounds you want and reduce or remove those that you don’t.

7. Major security upgrades

Finally, as far as the big updates go, there is a wealth of security upgrades coming to Android. These include a new spoofing protection feature, which will automatically end calls that are coming from a spoofed number.

Google is doing this by partnering with select banks and financial institutions, and then asking that institution’s app (if it’s installed on your phone) whether a call that appears to be coming from them really is. If the app says it’s not, then the call is automatically terminated.

This isn’t an Android 17 feature, per se — in fact, it will be rolling out to phones on Android 11 onwards in the coming weeks, but initially it only works with Revolut, Itaú, and Nubank, though Google has promised more banks will be added later this year.

Google is also upgrading Live Threat Detection — an existing feature that alerts you to suspicious apps on your device — by expanding the types of behavior that it considers suspicious and alerts you to. It’s also gaining “dynamic signal monitoring”, which will help it more immediately spot suspicious app behaviors, so your device will never be at risk for long.

Plus, Android 17 will allow you to lock a lost phone with biometric authentication — meaning even if someone has both stolen it and somehow knows your password or PIN, they still won’t be able to unlock it.

• Samsung started rolling out the finished version of One UI 8.5 on May 6
• The company is starting with South Korea, but other countries should get it soon
• Initially, One UI 8.5 is coming to high-end models from the last couple of years

It's been a long wait, but Samsung is finally taking One UI 8.5 out of beta and rolling it out to some phones and tablets. It’s actually been available on the Samsung Galaxy S26 series since launch, but all previous handsets were still waiting for it — until now.

As per an announcement on Samsung’s newsroom, the official rollout started on May 6 in South Korea, but “additional regions [are] to follow”, so you probably won’t have the update yet, but you likely will do soon if you have a compatible phone.

Initially, One UI 8.5 is coming to the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy S25 FE, Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7, Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy Z Flip 6, Galaxy Tab S11 series, and Galaxy Tab S10 series. So, in other words, most of the company’s high-end phones and tablets from the last couple of years.

But that’s just the start — we already know that One UI 8.5 will be coming to other devices too, since the beta is available on the Samsung Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy S23 FE, and Galaxy A36. You’ll just probably have to wait a bit longer to get the finished version on those phones.

AirDrop support and other improvements

One UI 8.5 should be worth the wait, though, as it'll bring numerous features and improvements, including AirDrop support over Quick Share, additional upgrades to Quick Share (including the ability to identify people in photos and suggest sending them to the subjects), and improvements to Photo Assist.

One UI 8.5 also brings the ability to use Audio Broadcast to send your voice to a connected speaker while you’re talking into your phone, the ability to see files on other Galaxy devices within the My Files app, and improvements to power saving mode to increase your phone’s battery life.

Those are the headline features, but there are smaller changes too, including tweaks to the Weather app and security enhancements, so there’s a lot here, though not every feature will necessarily be available on every phone.

Still, if you have any of the devices that are first in line for One UI 8.5, then it’s worth keeping an eye out for. You’ll probably get an alert when it’s available, but to manually check, head to Settings > Software update.

• Images of the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 8 have been dug up in One UI 9 code
• The Z Fold 8 looks essentially identical to its predecessor, while the Wide Fold looks very different
• While the Wide Fold looks visually the most interesting, it could also be quite niche

Samsung is probably going to launch two book-style foldable phones this year, with the expected Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 likely to be joined by the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold, and we’ve just had a somewhat official look at both of them.

You see, Samsung has included images of both devices in its One UI 9 software, and while these images aren’t currently intended to be user-facing, Android Authority has managed to dig them up.

As you can see in the images below, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 (codenamed Q8) looks very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, with a triple-lens camera on the back and a slightly narrow cover screen. Visually, there’s really nothing of note here, so this could be a boring upgrade.

But the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold (codenamed H8) is far more interesting, with just a dual-lens camera but a much wider cover screen, looking like it could almost match a small tablet even when folded shut.

This design broadly lines up with previous leaks, so it’s not overly surprising in that sense, but it is the closest thing yet to an official look at the Galaxy Wide Fold, and it’s drastically different from any foldable phone that Samsung has launched so far.

Yes, there’s the Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold, which has a wide foldable screen, but that has three sections, and the cover screen is still quite narrow and phone-like, so it’s a fundamentally different proposition to the device shown here.

A questionable design

Whether the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold will be a hit with a design like this, though, very much remains to be seen. After all, foldables are still a bit niche, and this design would mean it can’t quite match a phone’s form factor even when folded. Personally, I’m not sold on it, but I do approve of brands experimenting with new designs.

And with the foldable iPhone Ultra reportedly launching this year too, we could be on the cusp of foldable phones becoming more mainstream, at which point there might be more appetite for a phone like this.

As far as the Samsung Galaxy Wide Fold goes, we should learn exactly what it has to offer in July, as that’s when it’s likely to land, alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8, and perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 FE.

Our smartphones enable us to do so much, including capture precious memories of friends, family, and those once-in-a-lifetime holiday trips. If you want a powerful device with the very best smartphone camera technology at a new discounted price, then I recommend the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra at Amazon for $999.99 (was $1,299.99).

Not only is it one of the best Android phones in the world right now, but this Amazon discount brings the flagship phone down to a new record-low price. With powerful performance and a new innovative privacy display feature, you can see why you have to pay a premium for it.

This deal is for the 256GB storage option, although the same $300 discount is in place on the 512GB version if you want more room for photos, videos, and apps. Either way, you're getting a whole lot of phone for a fantastic price.

Today's best Samsung Galaxy deal

When we carried out our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review, we summarized our time with the phone by calling it the "best Android phone ever." Not only is it one of the best phones of all time, but compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it's thinner, lighter, brighter and ships with a "wild screen privacy feature."

The last of these is by far the most innovative of them all. By building two different kinds of pixels (narrow and wide) into the display, Samsung has made a way which stops people snooping on you even if they're sitting beside you or looking over your shoulder. It really is impressive and, on its own, is a reason to buy this phone.

The display itself includes enhanced ProScaler upscaling and mDNI color processing, which takes full advantage of the 3120 x 1440 resolution screen. This is just one of the reasons that we rated it an impressive 4.5 stars. Other reasons include the refined design, better performance, deeper AI integration, and outstanding battery life.

If this deal doesn't tickle your fancy, why not check out our in-depth guides to help you narrow down your options? These include the best phones, best Android phones, and best camera phones.

• Samsung Display has new screens to show off
• One comes with integrated biometric sensing
• There's also a new stretchable display for cars

Before screen panels appear in the best Samsung phones — often debuting in top-tier flagships like the Galaxy S26 Ultra — they get showcased by the Samsung Display arm of the company, and it's just unveiled its latest screens.

Samsung Display revealed these cutting-edge panels at the SID Display Week 2026 event in Los Angeles, and it's the Sensor OLED Display that's perhaps the most interesting of the bunch: it combines a 500 pixels-per-inch resolution with the ability to read biometric information such as heart rate and blood pressure.

It does this by measuring blood flow, through light emitted from the display. The screen also features the privacy protection tech that appeared in the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which stops other people from seeing what's on your phone unless they're looking directly at it.

Among the other panels shown off by Samsung was a Flex Chroma Pixel OLED screen that hits high marks for both brightness and color space: 3,000 nits and the BT.2020-96 standard respectively. BT.2020-96 is the widest color gamut standard used internationally, and while most phones get to around 70% coverage, the new panel reaches 96%.

Displays that stretch

Samsung Display also demoed a "next-generation stretchable display", rather aptly called the Stretchable Display 2.0. Samsung wants to get this screen installed into car dashboards, so the screen in your vehicle could expand or shrink depending on driving conditions, and what you and your passengers are currently doing.

The new display hits a resolution of 200 pixels-per-inch, up from the 120ppi of the previous version, and matching the current resolution offered by most car infotainment systems. This was achieved by developing a new "pixel structure" that can retain pixel density even as the screen extends and shrinks.

Finally, there were new EL-QD displays too — an upgraded quantum dot technology that Samsung is working on, which doesn't rely on standard OLED techniques. According to the company, these screens offer high color accuracy and improved brightness while offering better power efficiency, and could be used in "AI-based high-computing environments".

There's no indication of when these screens will hit consumer products — some more research and development will likely be needed first — but they give us a good idea of the phone and car displays that will be arriving in the next few years.

I'd never have associated Verizon with Mother's Day, but the carrier has just listed a special on the Samsung Galaxy S26 that's easily one of the best promotions yet on the device. I still don't know what it has to do with Mother's Day, but I'm certainly not complaining.

The deal in question not only waives the usual trade-in criteria needed for a discount, but lets you include a device at no cost on any of the carriers' unlimited data plans.

That includes the entry-level Welcome Unlimited plan, which starts at $55/mo for a single line, or as little as $100/mo when you take advantage of the carrier's multi-line discounts. With the deal above, you essentially bundle up to four devices at no extra cost on a really unlimited postpaid plan.

As a side note, Verizon is also throwing in a Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G tablet as gifts alongside the phones. Both of these are fantastic accessories, but note that you will need to take out an associated cellular line to claim them as gifts. The devices will be free, but you'll still end up paying a little extra per month for the cellular lines.

Verizon's latest Galaxy S26 deal

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Verizon

Note, it's not just the Samsung Galaxy S26 that's covered under this excellent promotion at Verizon this week. If you're interested, you'll also find an extremely similar deal available on the iPhone 17 — a device that's the perfect alternative for Apple fans.

Also available at Verizon this week...

• The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra could have one less camera than its predecessor
• Reportedly, the 3x telephoto is being ditched
• That would leave it with just a 5x optical zoom for telephoto shots, assuming no other changes are made

Samsung’s Galaxy Ultra phones have long been top options for telephoto photography, helped in part by their having two telephoto cameras, where most high-end phones have just one. But it sounds like the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra might be getting a bit more conventional, as it’s reportedly losing one of its telephoto lenses.

This is according to @UniverseIce — a leaker with a solid track record — who claims that the 3x telephoto will be absent on the S27 Ultra. While their wording is a bit ambiguous, it sounds like Samsung will be ditching this camera altogether, rather than switching it for a different focal length.

In which case, if the other telephoto stays the same as on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, you’ll be limited to just 5x optical zoom. However, it’s possible that Samsung will change this camera or even allow for multiple zoom levels through a single lens, removing the need for an extra camera.

A camera that won't be massively missed

Whatever the case, though, Samsung fans don’t seem too bothered by this news, with replies to the post including “good riddance I say. Hope it's not just the Ultra that bids farewell to that awful lens”, and “finally. The 3x was always the 'meh' middle child anyway.”

Certainly, it’s not currently the most useful of the Ultra's cameras, since you can already get a 2x ‘optical quality’ shot from the 200MP main sensor. That 3x zoom camera is also currently lumbered with a 10MP sensor, while the other rear cameras are all 50MP or more.

While we’d take the claim of its removal with a pinch of salt, it does line up with recent reports that the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra will have a redesigned camera block (possibly in the style of the iPhone 17 Pro's camera block) to facilitate MagSafe-like charging, so this may well be the case.

If it is accurate, though, we certainly hope Samsung is planning some camera improvements elsewhere, because while the 3x telephoto is arguably the least useful of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s snappers, removing it with no other changes would be a definite downgrade.

We probably won’t find out for sure what Samsung’s planning until early 2027, as that’s when the Samsung Galaxy S27 series will likely launch.

• Google Messages users are noticing vanishing chats on Samsung Galaxy phones
• It appears to be a re-indexing issue following the shutdown of Samsung Messages in favor of Google Messages
• The issue is still ongoing, but a Google expert has offered tips to fix it

Google Messages users have spotted a bug that’s randomly deleting old and new chats, and their complaints about the issue are spreading like wildfire online.

Users in the r/GoogleMessages forum are sharing their experiences with disappearing chats, but it’s difficult to pinpoint if there's a pattern between the vanishing messages. One user noticed ‘huge chunks of messages’ going missing from chats, while others have reported seeing entire conversations disappear.

Despite users trying to take matters into their own hands, the issue persists — one user also recalls a moment where a message ‘disappeared before [their] eyes’. Samsung Galaxy phones seem to be bearing the brunt the most — the Samsung A52 and Samsung Galaxy S21 have been mentioned on Reddit — but some Google Pixel users are also experiencing similar problems.

But where’s it coming from? There’s only one thing users have linked it to, and that’s the shutting down of Samsung Messages which is now entering its phase-out stage, forcing users over to Google's chat service.

Since the issues started to spread, users have been seeking ways to prevent this from happening, including checking their trash bin, clearing cache, and reviewing chat history back up, but messages are still going missing without reason. It’s led frustrated users to swarm Google’s support page to seek further advice, and the company has cleared the air slightly.

In a reply to a user query, a Google product expert shared that the Samsung Messages and Google Messages transition is in fact causing this: “While it is frustrating, the ‘vanishing’ of messages during this transition is often a sync and re-indexing delay rather than a permanent deletion, especially if they are missing from both apps”. They also detail that RCS incompatibility and synchronization bugs during the Samsung Messages-to-Google Messages crossover are also contributing to the ongoing issue.

That said, the Google expert followed by offering some workarounds. Firstly, they recommend waiting 48+ Hours if you only switched from Samsung Messages or have just noticed the issue. They also suggest leaving your phone on a charger with Wi-Fi connected so that the indexing process can finish.

Alternatively, you can use what the expert refers to as the ‘Sync Force’ trick, where you’ll need to set Samsung Messages back as your default SMS app, restart your device to open Samsung Messages, and then wait 2-3 minutes for it to load the local database. Once this is done, you can switch back to Google Messages and set it as the default again.

"How I will be able to rely on this app moving forward?"

Looking at the collective responses, it’s clear that the transition to Google Messages from Samsung Messages hasn’t been the smoothest process, and the bug has come at a very inconvenient time for those who are just getting used to navigating the Google Messages reins.

Though this is a minor re-indexing delay, those who have gotten comfy with using Samsung’s service are still very unhappy with the forced migration. A friend of our Staff Writer, Isaiah Williams, has been a long-time user of Samsung Messages, and the switch has hit them hard, who shared the following words with us:

"I was already bothered by the forced switch from Samsung to Google Messages and the loss of organizational features I loved as a small business owner, such as text categories, but I never expected to watch my messages fully disappear. They were there one minute, gone the next, and even after my attempts at troubleshooting, restarting, checking the archive and trash folders, spending ages navigating the cluttered app design and needless AI features, I have yet to fully resolve the issue. I am simply left questioning how I will be able to rely on this app moving forward when basic functionality seems so lacking."

• Samsung is reportedly considering redesigning the camera layout on future Galaxy phones
• This might in part be to allow space for magnets, so you can use magnetic chargers and accessories without a case
• We probably won't see this design change before the Galaxy S27 at the earliest

Whether the Samsung Galaxy S series has an iconic design or a boring one is somewhat subjective, but what’s undeniable is that not much has visually changed with these phones for years now — especially when it comes to their vertical camera arrangement.

But it seems Samsung might soon shake things up, as according to Ice Universe — a reputable leaker — posting on Weibo (via Phone Arena), the company is considering changing the position of the rear cameras.

The same claim has also been made by another leaker on South Korean site Naver, who added in a comment that part of the reason for this change is to leave space for built-in Qi2 magnets, so that future Samsung phones could have case-free, MagSafe-style magnetic wireless charging.

It could take inspiration from a rival

If that’s the case, then it’s likely that the redesigned cameras won’t extend as far down the back of the phone as they do currently, so they might instead have a Pixel-style pill module; a width-spanning, iPhone-like camera island; or a squarish block like the OnePlus 15.

It’s also possible we could get a circular camera block, like you’ll find on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, though if magnets are going to be included, it would possibly have to be smaller than Xiaomi’s version.

Of course, we doubt Samsung would directly copy any of these phone designs, since it would want its devices to have their own identity. But those are probably the four most common general smartphone camera designs, so something broadly in line with one of them seems likely.

It’s unclear when this design change might emerge, if it does at all, but we’d assume a flagship phone would get redesigned first, so the earliest we’d expect to see it is with the Samsung Galaxy S27 series, which isn’t likely to launch until early 2027. So, whatever Samsung is planning, there’s probably a while to wait for it.

Only TikTokers could discover that the camera flash on Samsung Galaxy phones is powerful enough to melt through plastic.

A viral video from @neev.akavak shows the LED flash on a Samsung Galaxy S25 FE being used to burn a hole through a black plastic bag — and given that most recent Samsung phones share the same physical flash hardware, it’s possible that other Galaxy models could repeat the same trick (we don’t, however, recommend that you try repeating it at home).

“This is why museums don’t allow flash, folks,” reads one comment below the video, while another user writes, “Sometimes I accidentally put my phone in my pocket with the flash on, and it feels like it’s burning a hole through me.” A little dramatic, but sentiment acknowledged.

Of course, the explanation for this occurrence is clear: the best Samsung phones feature incredibly powerful LEDs, and light carries energy that produces heat when absorbed by matter like plastic or skin. If you press a phone’s flashlight against a thin synthetic material, the heat absorbed by that material could conceivably leave a mark.

Samsung itself acknowledges this risk in the Flashlight tool, warning users —when they slide up the brightness — that “the camera light may cause low temperature burns when in prolonged contact with the skin. Avoid leaving the Flashlight turned on for an extended period.”

It’s clear, then, that the company is relying on a degree of common sense and caution among its user base with features like this; you shouldn’t press your phone’s flashlight against thin surfaces for extended periods, in the same way that you shouldn’t — surprise! — swallow your phone whole or bash it against your head (again, please don’t try either of those things at home). We’re not talking about Samsung Galaxy Note 7 levels of fire risk here.

Still, as Lee Elliott, Chief Product Officer at phone recycling website Compare and Recycle, tells TechRadar, the risks posed by strong LED lights in smartphones should continue to be acknowledged: “Although devices do show a warning when the torch [flashlight] is on the highest brightness, we all know how easy it is to forget to turn things on our devices off — or toggle them on accidentally.

“This means problems could arise if Samsung users accidentally leave their flash on in an enclosed space, such as a bag or pocket. Because so many everyday items contain synthetic materials, especially backpacks and clothing, leaving your flashlight on by mistake could lead to damage or melting.

“If left for a prolonged period of time, this could potentially become a fire risk. So, it’s a good reminder to check your flash isn’t left on unintentionally, avoid covering the light source for long periods, and to manually reduce the torch brightness below the warning level when you’re using it.”

Samsung is also not alone in shipping extra-strong LED flash modules. Last month, several Google Pixel 10 and 10 Pro XL users complained that the flashlight modules on their phones had burned or melted after extended use, which is arguably an even more worrying issue.

Samsung phones do, however, appear to have more powerful flashlights than their Apple counterparts: in a separate video, a YouTuber found the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s flashlight to be significantly weaker than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s, which burned through a plastic sheet in a similar manner to the aforementioned Galaxy S25 FE.

In summary, then, if you own a Samsung Galaxy phone, you should exercise caution when using your device’s flashlight at full force. Check that the flash is turned off when leaving your phone in your pocket or on a surface, and always ensure that you dispose of used electronics at your local recycling center — don’t just chuck them in the trash. And definitely don't chuck them in the trash with any sort of flashlight enabled.

The Samsung Galaxy A37 went on sale earlier this month, and if you've decided it's the phone for you, you'll want to get a case sorted. The rules of the universe state that if you venture out without one, it's only a matter of time before you drop / bump / smash it.

You're not short on case options, but the quality varies a lot. Here, I've rounded up a selection of our favorites available from US and UK retailers, all of which offer reliable protection without compromising on style — after all, that's a brand-new Samsung Galaxy you've got in your hand, so let's not spoil it with a rubbish-looking cover.

The phone itself is available in 'Awesome' Navy, Gray, Icy blue and Lilac (I'm not sure what makes those shades awesome specifically, but let's go with it), and I've included some transparent/translucent options if you want to keep your chosen color on show.

US — Samsung Galaxy A37 cases

UK — Samsung A37 cases

• Samsung is rolling out a new 'Trips' feature to Samsung Wallet
• This automatically groups your travel plans, creating a timeline within the Wallet
• You can also manually add itinerary items and notes

Samsung Wallet just got a big upgrade, as the company is now rolling out what it calls ‘Trips’ — a feature that lets you organize and manage your travel plans all in one place.

You can add all your travel tickets to Trips, whether they're for flights, hotels, buses, trains, car rentals, sporting events, or excursions, and then it automatically groups them together based on things like time and location, and creates a travel timeline.

You can also go beyond just adding eligible tickets by manually adding itinerary items and including your own memos alongside saved items.

The end result is that you can have a comprehensive travel schedule, complete with tickets and important information, all within Samsung Wallet.

All your travel plans in one place

Trips is a nice idea, since your tickets can already be housed in the Samsung Wallet, so it’s an app you’ll probably be turning to a lot. It makes sense to be able to include other relevant information too — and have it all grouped so it’s kept organized and easy to find.

And this isn’t something you’ll really find anywhere else on Android. Google Wallet lets you add similar kinds of tickets, but won’t automatically turn them into a grouped timeline, and while there are third-party apps for creating travel itineraries, you usually have to manually add tickets to them, if they support tickets at all.

Trips is rolling out this month, so if you don’t already have it on your Samsung phone, you should do soon — though right now, it’s only coming to users in the US, UK, and South Korea.

With a slim and light build, plus a stylish glass-and-metal chassis, Samsung’s affordable new Galaxy A57 is undeniably a great-looking phone — and not just compared to other budget handsets, but even when it’s up against other flagships, including its Galaxy S26 siblings.

Combined with some notable hardware and software upgrades over its excellent A56 predecessor, that was enough for me to seriously consider adopting the Galaxy A57 as my main Android phone — and as TechRadar AU’s main phones editor, that’s something I honestly never thought I’d be saying about a budget handset.

The Galaxy A57 comes at an interesting time for affordable Android phones. To my mind, Google’s Pixel handsets have consistently been the overall best cheap phones for the last several years — in large part because they’ve been powered by the same Tensor chipsets that are found in Google’s main line Pixels — essentially giving you flagship performance in cheaper hardware.

However, with Google opting to focus on retaining the same $499 / £499 / AU$849 price point with its new Pixel 10a (a feat achieved by adding very few upgrades over the Pixel 9a, including retaining the same core hardware), the tech giant has delivered a fairly underwhelming entrant in the contest for best budget Android handset of 2026 — so that crown is now very much up for grabs.

Sure, the Pixel 10a now has a completely flat back and improved battery life (thanks to software tweaks rather than a higher capacity), but otherwise the phone is virtually identical to the 9a. It doesn’t even have the Qi2 magnets found in the Pixel 10 lineup (aka PixelSnap), which could have been a notable differentiator over the Pixel 9a. Those reasons were enough for me to rule out the Pixel 10a as a real contender for best cheap phone of 2026.

Samsung, on the other hand, has taken a slightly controversial approach with the A57 by increasing the price slightly to $549 / £529 / AU$749 (from $499 / £499 / AU$699 for last year’s Galaxy A56). However, it’s also packed the device with plenty of upgrades over the A56 — while also making it thinner and lighter.

The 2026 budget Android race isn’t just Galaxy vs Pixel. There’s a dark horse in the form of British phone maker Nothing, a company that has always excelled in the budget space and whose compelling Nothing Phone (4a) Pro offers a striking fresh design, some genuinely unique features and, for good measure, a slew of hardware upgrades over its forebear.

With just two real contenders then, I compared the A57 and the (4a) Pro to see which would win me over — especially since the uber-flagship Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra didn’t.

A thin and light wonder

The Samsung Galaxy A57 measures an impressive 6.9mm thick and weighs 179g, compared to the Galaxy A56’s 7.4mm depth and 198g weight. That thickness difference is starker versus the Pixel 10a, which measures 9mm.

The A57’s glass back and aluminum chassis make it genuinely feel like a flagship phone, especially compared to the plastic-backed Pixel 10a. Adding to the flagship look is the A57’s thin bezels, which stand out when the phone is next to the Pixel 10a and the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro.

While it still doesn’t have the full Galaxy AI suite, the Galaxy A57 supports more AI features than its predecessor thanks to a beefier Exynos 1680 chipset. Some previous S-series exclusive features, like Live Transcription and enhanced Circle to Search, are now fully supported by the budget Samsung. Personally, I count the fewer AI features as a positive, as both are practical and potentially useful, unlike the flagships that have so many more AI features that I would likely never use.

Even with the thinner chassis, Samsung still managed to stuff a 5,000mAh battery in the A57, giving it the same capacity as the Galaxy S26 Ultra. I can also quickly charge it up, thanks to 45W fast charging, which is actually better than the base Galaxy S26 (25W). There still isn’t wireless charging here, which admittedly might turn some users off, but isn’t a deal breaker for me.

In Australia (where I'm based), the Galaxy A57 is also cheaper than its competitors, starting at AU$749 for the 128GB model, compared to AU$849 for the Pixel 10a and AU$949 for the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro (albeit for 256GB storage and 12GB RAM). A mid-ranger with premium materials that’s priced lower than a phone with comparatively cheaper parts like plastic is a no-brainer for me. If you’re in the US and the UK, however, the A57 isn’t as much of a slam dunk thanks to being slightly more expensive at $549 / £529 compared to $499 / £499 for the Pixel 10a.

More than just a pretty (inter)face

While I adore what Samsung has done to upgrade and improve the Galaxy A57 compared to its predecessor, somewhat surprisingly, it was the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro that ultimately won me over — and it did so because it brought together some of the things I liked about the Galaxy A57 and the Pixel 10a, and wrapped it all in a whimsical and fun package.

The (4a) Pro’s all-metal industrial design doesn’t just look good, it also feels more premium than the A57’s glass sandwich, even if it’s not as thin or light (8mm deep and weighs 210g). The Glyph Matrix display on the camera island adds to its distinctive looks, but is also useful as a second display for a clock, alerts, and even as a guide for taking photos.

NothingOS reminds me a lot of the Google Pixel’s clean software experience, but it takes it to another level of minimalism by using monochrome logos, menus and custom widgets. While Samsung’s One UI makes the Galaxy A57 more customizable, it’s still comparatively more cluttered with bloatware, which can be laborious to remove app by app after setup.

Admittedly, the (4a) Pro is the first Nothing device I’ve ever used, so I'll admit that a novelty factor is in play here. However, I’ve also been on an ongoing quest to cut down my phone screen time, and NothingOS’s minimal UI and the (4a) Pro’s Glyph Matrix are features that I’ve been looking at to help achieve that goal. Sure, I could manually go about setting up a similar monochrome theme with the Samsung, but it’s already implemented — and looks great — on the Nothing phone out of the box.

Price wise, the (4a) Pro makes for a better option than either its Samsung or Google counterpart — particularly in Australia — despite it being the most expensive of the three ($599 / £549 / AU$949 for the 256GB flavor, the only option available Down Under). The equivalent 256GB models for the Pixel 10a and the Galaxy A57 cost $599 / £598 / AU$999 and $609.99 / £529 / AU$849 respectively, while having just 8GB of RAM.

Honestly, if the (4a) Pro had better cameras, I think it would even have a good chance of replacing my iPhone 16 Pro Max as my daily driver. Balancing specs, features, looks and price remarkably well, I think the Nothing just tips the balance in its favor in the battle of the budget phones.

My biggest takeaway while comparing the three mid-range phones, however, was that no matter which handset you might personally prefer, it's pleasantly surprising to see how capable they all are compared to their flagship brethren.

Samsung Galaxy A57 two-minute review

According to sales figures, Samsung's budget-friendly A-series phones generally sell better than their pricier S-series siblings (aka the best Samsung phones). So, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the brand's newest flashy flagship, a good deal more buyers are probably considering the Samsung Galaxy A57 instead.

For those not versed in the Samsung taxonomy, here's a quick recap: 'A' = cheap, '5' denotes the place in the lineup (it goes 0-5), and '7' is the generation (this is the 2026 model). That's all to say that the Galaxy A57 is the brand's most advanced mid-ranger of 2026, succeeding the Galaxy A56.

Like the S26 family, this is an iterative upgrade, bringing spec tweaks and a new (but familiar) roster of colors, rather than any truly significant changes. Mind you, a price hike makes those same specs look a little bit less appealing this year, given that you're paying extra for them.

The largely unchanged specs list means you're getting similar highs and lows to last year's model. The A57's display is one standout feature, with the bright, bold screen a blessing for your Prime Video binge or commute-based gaming sessions.

Samsung's software is another treat; One UI largely avoids the problems that befall OS packages on many other mid-range phones, and there's much less feature-bloat here than you'll find on the Galaxy S-series phones.

The perks return, but so do the pitfalls. The A57's Exynos processor is simply no good for gaming, and I'd recommend doing your photo editing on a computer, too. For that matter, pictures taken on the A57 aren't up to snuff, which is a surprise given Samsung's usual pedigree in the field.

If you want a phone that just works, without drowning you in AI or automation features, you'll like the Galaxy A57. It won't suit avid photographers, gamers, or people who want a bit more out of their mobile, but it's a reliable workhorse for the average buyer. Its battery life is also solid, and the slightly shrunk frame will fit in your hands a little better than most large-screen phones.

Galaxy A-series phones are understandably popular, but with the price hike, this latest model is a tad harder to recommend than normal. It's definitely worth picking up if you find a solid discount, but with competitors from Nothing, Google, and various Chinese brands offering more for less right now, Samsung's top-end mid-range phone feels a little less valuable than it should.

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: price and availability

• Released on April 10, 2026
• Starts at $549 / £529 / AU$749, but for different variants
• Price hike over Galaxy A56

The Samsung Galaxy A57 was announced on March 25, 2026, alongside the more affordable A37. It went on sale several weeks later, on April 10.

There are three variants of the phone, with availability changing by region. The only model everyone gets costs $609 / £529 / AU$849, and that’s for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. A cheaper model with only 128GB storage is available in the US and Australia, for $549 / AU$749, while Brits get a super-charged 12GB RAM and 512GB storage model for £699. I tested the 8GB / 256GB model for this review.

For ease of viewing, here are those prices in table form:

No matter where you live, one thing’s for certain: the A57 has seen a significant price hike versus the Galaxy A56. That model started at $499 / £499 / AU$699 — again for different variants, which the table below details — meaning buyers of the new phone will have to shell out much more than they would have for last year’s model.

Given that the A56 wasn't particularly competitive in terms of price, either, an even higher price tag for the A57 will understandably give buyers pause.

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: specs

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: design

• Thin and light phone
• Some neat design touches that improve comfort
• Four color options, all sadly lifeless

To some degree, the Samsung Galaxy A57 has inherited a trait from the ill-fated Galaxy S25 Edge: thinness. The phone’s training regimen has seen it shrink to 6.9mm thick, which is thinner than anything else in Samsung’s roster beyond the Edge.

This doesn’t result in a massive overhaul of the Galaxy A’s hand-feel, not with the height and width still stretching the hand, but it’s a nice touch that makes the device look a little more svelte.

There’s clearly also been some weight loss, with the Galaxy A57 tipping the scales to 179g; again, this is a spec beaten only by Samsung’s year-old lean machine.

Samsung has toned down the fun of its A-series color options over the past few years, and it’s no different this time around. I tested the ‘Awesome’ Icyblue (scare quotes my own), and there’s also Awesome Navy, Awesome Lilac, and Awesome Gray (now that’s what I call an oxymoron). So that’s blue, blue, nearly-blue, and gray.

On the right edge of the A57, the power button is within easy thumb reach, and the volume rocker is only a small stretch higher. I appreciated that the phone’s edge slowly curves up just ahead of the power button, which meant it was simple to naturally find the button with my thumb without needing to look.

The A57 has a triple-camera rear module on the back, which looks identical to those of the last few A-series generations, and it doesn’t stick out too far, so the phone didn’t wobble much when I put it flat on a table.

The Galaxy A57 also has an IP68 certification, which means it’s safe against ingress from small particles, and can survive submersion in water of up to 1.5m for up to 30 minutes (that may sound specific, but it’s what the ‘8’ stands for). When a phone has IP68, you can rest assured that it’s safe for all everyday functions.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: display

• 6.7 inches, 1080 x 2340 resolution
• 120Hz refresh rate, 1,900 nits max brightness
• Super AMOLED Plus gives display punch

The Samsung Galaxy A57 gets a 6.7-inch display, with a thin bezel that's broken up only by a small punch-hole for the front-facing camera.

Like the A56’s panel, it has a 1080 x 2340 resolution and hits a 120Hz refresh rate, so it’ll handle anything Netflix or your chosen mobile game can throw at it.

Colors are bright and vibrant, thanks in part to two upgrades over the previous model: a higher max brightness (1,900 nits) and the use of a Super AMOLED Plus panel, which offers a wider color gamut. It’s been said before, and it’s truer than ever now: it’s hard to find a better screen on a mid-range phone than on a Galaxy A-series device.

The A57 also has what Samsung calls Vision Booster, a feature that turns brightness and vibrancy up to 11 when the device recognizes that you’re watching content outdoors (as in, grappling with the shiny, reflective sunlight on the display). I didn’t have an A56 to test it against, and it’s not a feature that you can manually toggle, but I never had a problem using the A57 while outdoors.

A fingerprint sensor embedded under the phone's display worked well in my experience, never failing to recognize my thumb.

• Display score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: software

• Android 16 with One UI 8.5
• Six years of OS updates
• Software is cleaner and simpler than rivals'

Out of the box, the Galaxy A57 runs Android 16, the latest version of Android at the time of its release, with Samsung pledging six major Android updates to the phone.

This isn’t stock Android but One UI 8.5, which the Samsung Galaxy S26 also runs on, except here you get a tuned-down version of that same software.

Some may miss the flagship phone’s various premium features (you don't get generative AI tools like Drawing Assist, for instance), but I actually preferred the Galaxy A57's interface: you don't get inundated with AI features, random reminders, and gimmicky tools that do little.

One feature you do get is an upgraded version of Circle to Search. If you press and hold the home button, you can circle anything on screen and Google search it. The selling point of this feature is that it gives you the ability to find the outfits of people you see online — a pretty niche use case, it must be said — but I found Circle to Search pretty useful for searching for actors I recognized, settings in videos that I wanted to locate, and sports teams that I didn't recognize by their uniforms.

A common feature of mid-range smartphones is bloatware, but the Galaxy A57 is pristine and clean out of the box. You get barely any unwanted pre-installed apps (I can overlook Netflix and Spotify, given how ubiquitous they are), and there are barely any Samsung apps pre-installed either.

I’m a fan of the look of One UI, and it offers loads of customization options. You can bend the wallpaper, color palette, and icons to your will, and add Samsung-made widgets and tools that change how you use the phone.

I like to set up Modes on Galaxy phones, which let me quickly change various settings at the tap of a button. For example, I can design a Game mode, which mutes notifications and boosts screen and performance power, or set up a Sleep mode, which automatically turns on my alarm and switches the display to an eye-friendly grayscale. To easily switch these Modes on and off, I can plonk a carousel on my home page. It's pretty impressive stuff.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: cameras

• 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, and 5MP macro cameras
• Cameras lack some vibrancy and optimization
• A range of useful camera features

Samsung has been using the same camera setup on its A50-series for years now (the A53 was the last model with a different main sensor), and in 2026, it's starting to show show its age. It’s simply not competitive compared to other similar-priced phones.

The main camera is a 50MP f/1.8 unit, which is joined by a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and a 5MP f/2.4 macro lens. Around the front, there's a 12MP f/2.2 selfie snapper.

In anything shy of blinding sunshine or studio lighting, the Galaxy A57 struggled to capture an adequate level of vibrancy or color detail — for instance, in the camera samples below, you’ll see foliage that looks desaturated and lacks dynamic range. An upgraded ISP (Image Signal Processing) chip was cited as an upgrade with this phone, but it's not made a significant improvement.

Get some strong sunlight, and some colors do seep through, but you can’t control how sunny it is outside, and besides, sunshine didn't always fix the problem. Other phones do well to edit photos to pull out the contrast and boost the saturation if needs be, and I was surprised by how light-touch (read: ineffectual) the Galaxy A57 could be.

For some praise, I'll point to the auxiliary lenses. I was impressed by how consistent the color was between lenses — I often find ultra-wides lack the color of their main siblings — and the lack of distortion on the wide lens. The macro was a little finicky at finding focus on close subjects, but it's definitely more useful than many others I've tested (though it doesn't come close to making up for the lack of a dedicated zoom camera).

Selfies on the Galaxy A57 were a little better, offering some contrast that will make social media pictures look postable, though, as you can see in the pictures below, Portrait mode struggled with fluffy strands of hair.

The A57 offers you a reasonable range of expected camera modes, including Night and Samsung's stalwart Food, and there's also the A-series-exclusive Fun mode, which basically offers you Snapchat filters on your camera app. Single Take isn't available by default, but you can enable it via the Camera Assistant app in the Samsung Store.

Video recording hits 60fps at 1080p or 30fps at 4K, with a slow-mo app that doesn't reveal its framerate.

Once you've taken a photo, you can use a few tools to brush it up in the Gallery app. There's no built-in chatbot to AI slopify your pictures like in the S26 series, and instead, you get Object Eraser and a remaster tool, which auto-applies edits. The latter's actually pretty good, and I found it reliable for adding some zest to the default pictures that otherwise lacked it.

• Camera score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A57 camera samples

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: performance and audio

• Samsung's Exynos 1680 chip + 8GB RAM (for most)
• Fine for everyday use, not for gaming
• Bluetooth 6.0 for audio

Samsung’s Galaxy A-series phones have never won awards for their blazing-fast performance — plenty of Chinese mobiles at this price point can run rings around them — and the Galaxy A57 is no different.

The phone has an Exynos 1680 chipset, made by Samsung itself, paired with 8GB RAM in most versions.

Geekbench 6 multi-core benchmark tests returned scores in the 4,400s. That’s a step above the 3,900s we saw in the A56, but less than half of what the S26 Ultra returned, and a big step below similar-priced alternatives I’ve tested recently, like the 8,600-scoring Poco X8 Pro Max. Unfortunately, every 3DMark test I ran crashed, which wasn't necessarily the fault of the phone (sometimes, new devices just don’t like benchmarking software), but it did mean I wasn’t able to dig much further into the A57's numbered performance…

… until I started actually playing games.

The A57 could handle well-optimized games like Call of Duty: Mobile, but only on lower graphics settings. Try to match the display quality with some resolution or graphics effects, and the handset would suffer. It would also heat up a little during longer gaming sessions, which is not something you'll encounter with most Snapdragon-powered phones, for instance.

So, the Galaxy A57 is no performance wunderkind, even if you can play certain titles with compromises. But if you're not a gamer, you can ignore all that, as the phone has all the performance credentials necessary for non-intensive everyday tasks like scrolling and streaming. If I weren't an avid gamer, I'd probably deem the Galaxy A57 powerful enough for me.

Audio-wise, you’re looking at support for Bluetooth 6.0, with the built-in stereo speakers about as passable as on any other phone at this price point. And no, there’s no 3.5mm jack, so you’ll have to use the USB-C port for wired audio.

• Performance score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: battery life

• Average-sized 5,000mAh battery
• Single day of use per charge
• 45W charging powers the phone in roughly 90 mins

The Samsung Galaxy A57 has a 5,000mAh battery, which is the same size battery as you'll find in the A56, as well as the flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra.

A capacity like this is, in most phones, shorthand for ‘all-day battery life’. That’s no different with the Galaxy A57 — I could use the device as much as I wanted, without worrying that it’d run out of juice.

You won’t get two days of battery life, though — not unless you don’t use your phone very much. For average use, you’ll get about a day and a half all in.

The A57 powers at 45W, so it’s not particularly fast, and with a compatible charger, you’ll get from empty to full in about an hour and a half. When the handset’s plugged in, it’ll tell you how long it’ll take to power up at its current speed, which is a really useful quality of life feature that I appreciated.

• Battery score: 3.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: value

Samsung's Galaxy A-series phones are reliable and have some great traits, but they don't offer as impressive value for money as their competitors. Bear in mind that A57 isn't cheap; at its price, it's firmly in the 'mid-range' category.

Many rivals at a similar price point will offer you one or two incredible specs along with a few average ones, like a huge battery, incredibly fast charging, a top-end processor, or a telephoto zoom camera. If you wanted the A57's specs from another brand, you'd probably find them for much less money.

Samsung does nothing to sweeten the deal, and so it's hard to argue that the A57 offers particularly exciting value for money. But as reliability and longevity go, there aren't many 'safer' all-round options than this one.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy A57?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Samsung Galaxy A57 review: Also consider

Interested in the Samsung Galaxy A57 but want to know what else is out there? Here are some other mid-range gems you may want to consider.

How I tested the Samsung Galaxy A57

• Review test period = 2 weeks
• Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
• Tools used = Geekbench 6, 3D Mark, native Android stats

I tested the Samsung Galaxy A57 for just over two weeks before writing this review, after receiving a test sample from Samsung.

In part, testing was done experientially: I used it as I would any other smartphone, which included taking it on holiday to take pictures, conducting video calls, and streaming music and movies. I also put it through a barrage of 'lab-style' tests like benchmarks on Geekbench and 3D Mark, as well as through battery tests.

I've been reviewing smartphones for TechRadar since early 2019, and in that time have tested all manner of mobiles, including past Samsung Galaxy devices and plenty of other mid-range and affordable Androids.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed April 2026