Yikes! 70% of you told me you’re not hyped about the Galaxy S26 — Samsung better have something special up its sleeve

Last month, I asked you, dear readers, if you’re excited for the Samsung Galaxy S26. Turns out many of you aren’t feeling the hyperbole this year.

In a poll where I asked if you’re hyped for the much-rumored Galaxy S26 family, a resounding 70% of you indicated that you’re not, and you just don’t really care about the next-generation Galaxy S-series phones.

For anyone who can't do the maths all that well, such as me, that means 30% of poll respondents are hyped for the S26. That's not an insignificant amount, but it's definitely less than I would expect as we get close to what’s usually one of the biggest smartphone launches of the year, outside of the launch of a next-gen iPhone.

As someone who’s been keeping a close eye on Galaxy S26 rumors, this ‘meh’ attitude to Samsung's upcoming flagship phones isn't hugely surprising. When running down the key rumors, it’s looking very likely that Samsung will have a very iterative year for its non-folding flagship, with the most notable upgrades likely to be more on the software and Galaxy AI side.

The comments in the poll article tend to reflect an acknowledgment of iteration rather than inspiration for the Galaxy S26.

“TBH I love Samsung and as a current user of a S25 Ultra the S26 Ultra looks great but I won't be buying it or another cellphone for a while. I mean I upgraded from the S21 Ultra to the S25 Ultra in late August, early September so it makes absolutely no sense to upgrade,” said commenter Derric, going on to say the smartphone market in the US is stagnant, given the main phones are the iPhone and Samsung S-series.

Another commenter, Sp1r0s, noted a similar attitude to upgrading, “S24 Ultra owner here coming up to the end of a 24 month contract. Still happy with the performance of my phone and it'll probably do me for at least another year or two, perhaps with a battery refresh during that time.” They added that if the S26 series were to offer improved cameras and a larger battery, they might consider an upgrade, but there was a distinct tone of disinterest toward the S26 in their comment.

Commenter Eliotrw was one of the more positive people towards the Galaxy S26: “I am interested as I'm personally of the [belief] we are about to enter a period of stagnation of consumer electronics and so to me, it’s interesting as maybe a "last upgrade" before things return to normal, in my opinion 2030.... (lets see if I'm right or wrong later.)”

An interesting take, and one I somewhat agree with, but I’d argue stagnation has probably already settled in, which is one of the reasons I think phone makers should start to abandon the yearly release cycle.

We’ll likely find out in the next couple of weeks what exactly Samsung has in store for the Galaxy S26, so maybe there’ll be a surprise or two.

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