Samsung Galaxy S26 launch live — all the latest leaks and rumors ahead of today's big Unpacked event

I'm hoping for more photo AI mastery

So what I am looking forward to today? Well, a feature which really stood out to me at last years Galaxy S25 launch was the improvements Samsung had made to its Object Eraser tool. It wipes the floor with Google's eraser tool, and many others I've tried.

So this year I'm hoping to see more AI wizardry that makes a clear, positive impact and – most importantly – is easy to use with minimal explanation.

• Read more: The Samsung Galaxy S25 series comes good on an AI promise eight years in the making

Hey everybody!

John here, ready to take you through today's Samsung launch event. I appreciate you joining us, and I can't wait to see what's in store.

It's another year, and another major Samsung launch to get the whole tech industry warmed up for the onslaught of exciting new devices, services and features in the coming months.

And just so we're clear, Roland has been extremely generous by digging out that rather old photo of me. I look less fresh-faced these days, but the energy levels are still here. LET'S GO.

And speaking of tech luminaries, I'm about to hand over this live blog to John McCann, a former Global Managing Editor at TechRadar, a phones specialist, a decent chap, and a man who often rocks a serious head of hair.

I've known John for a decade or so (!) and so I think I'll be leaving this blog in good hands, while I go and write up some interesting things I've see... make sure to keep your browser locked on TechRadar.

Speaking of Mr Ulanoff, he's usually at Galaxy Unpacked but unfortunately the snow in New York has meant he's not been able to escape the Big Apple to get to San Francisco.

But I'm rather sure he'll have thoughts about the Galaxy S26 series and other stuff Samsung might have up its sleeve.

TriFold teasing?

Moving outside of the Galaxy S-series phones, I'm hoping we hear a little more about the Galaxy TriFold today, such as its capabilities and any software features.

Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff went hands-on with the Galaxy TriFold and was suitably impressed, so I'm hoping we see more about what this big foldable can do.

All that being said, with some emulation Cyberpunk 2077 can be made to run on current smartphones.

Maybe I should get tweaking with the Galaxy phones I have in my vicinity...

Cyberpunk 2077 On An Android Phone! PC Emulation Is Getting GOOD! - YouTube

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But my Galaxy gaming ambitions might be a bit far fetched, as Microsoft pushes smartphone gaming via Xbox Cloud Gaming as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

However, I think being able to run actual Xbox games on a smartphone without complex emulation could be really cool; not that I reckon Microsoft or Samsung are listening much to what I think.

I say this a lot, but I'd be quite keen on some form of gaming upgrade for the Galaxy S26 series.

I'd love to see the ability for the Galaxy S26 Ultra to use what's likely to be a good bit of smartphone power to run Xbox games, all via a partnership with Microsoft; Samsung has previously partnered with the Redmond giant.

I mean, I'm more of a fan of the Android experience on Google's Pixel phones. But I've come to accept Samsung's One UI and its approach to color science when it comes to phone photography.

So I don't feel like there's masses or room to make sweeping changed there; a little nip and tuck would be fine.

I'm racking my brain for what other upgrades I'd like to see from the Galaxy S26 series.

More battery life is always appreciated, but outside of that I sort of think there's not much else the Galaxy S phones can do as I think they already nail the Android phone formula.

I've never been madly obsessed with privacy, and don't go in for tin-foil hat conspiracies.

But having a feature that could hide my banking app checking while out and about, or obfuscate some embarrassing nonsense I'm looking at on my phone, might be quite appealing.

Pushing privacy

One cool upgrade the Galaxy S26 Ultra is tipped to bring to the table is a so-called 'Privacy Display'.

Supposedly this is a built in feature that can be used to make the screen appear dark and unreadable to sideways and over-the-shoulder snoopers.If such a feature works well it could be a neat USP for the S26 Ultra.

Or Samsung has just got a bit boring...

Equally, 70% of you told me you’re not hyped about the Galaxy S26, which signals to me that there's not a huge amount of interest in what's likely to be one of the best phones of 2026.

So maybe we've hit peak smartphone, and the excitement of generation-to-generation upgrades has withered.

I actually think the Galaxy S26 series could be one of the most iterative generations of Android smartphones ever.

This may not be a terrible thing though, as Samsung has somewhat perfected its flagship phone recipe.

Speaking of upgrades, going by some of the top Galaxy S26 rumors, I'm not expecting the Galaxy S26 Ultra or its smaller predicted siblings to be very different from the Galaxy S25 series.

New chips are almost a given, but I've not heard many rumors of new cameras or any major design tweaks.

Further to that, Samsung has previously boosted the vapor chamber cooling system on its most flagship of phones, so I'd expect the same for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

But with a new chipset expected, and surely some improvements on power efficiency and cooling, I'd very much hope the Galaxy S26 Ultra doesn't run to hot.

Now I'd take the the below news with a degree of skepticism, as even if everything is legit, pre-release phones aren't likely to be running the latest software and optimizations to get the best out of them.

So with that in mind, it's not hugely surprising that the Galaxy S26 Ultra could be running a little warm right now.

Beep! Beep! news just in: The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has been leaked in a hands-on video, and it runs worryingly hot!

Samsung S26 Ultra First Impression - স্যামসাং কি অ্যাপলের পথেই হাঁটছে! - YouTube

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Phones, lots of phones

RIght so what's the rundown? Well in simple terms expect to see a suite of new Galaxy S-series phones.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra will surely lead the charge as the main phone, followed by the Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26.

Hello there! This is Managing Editor of Phones, Roland Moore-Colyer here to take you through some of the run up to today's Galaxy Unpacked.