The Samsung Galaxy S26+, which debuted on the tail finish of February, is in a difficult spot between the smaller S26 and the bigger S26 Ultra. The S26+ isn’t solely a high-specification powerhouse; it aspires to be a reliable smartphone for professionals with its new 2nm Exynos 2600 CPU and improved One UI 8.5.

Does the S26+’s new 7.3 mm slim profile give an excessive amount of to aesthetics in a market the place the Indian summer season is the last word stress check for skinny glass-and-metal slabs? This evaluate appears carefully on the improved design options, such because the Ambient Island digital camera and the AI-based Now Briefs, to see whether or not the S26+ is an enormous step ahead or only a beauty tweak to an current machine. Let’s discover out.

Design and Display

In comparability to its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S26+ has minor however noticeable upgrades. The Ambient Island digital camera housing enhances the cellphone’s look with a sleeker design, but it surely additionally causes the cellphone to wobble on flat surfaces. The machine is constructed from strong supplies, together with Armor Aluminum 2 and Gorilla Glass Victus 2, making it very sturdy. The Ultra mannequin (Review), then again, makes use of Gorilla Armor 2, which is even stronger, for additional safety.

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We acquired the S26+ in a cobalt blue color for our evaluate. It’s supposed to repel fingerprints, but when your palms are typically dry, it’s possible you’ll need to think about using a case for safer dealing with. From an ergonomic standpoint, the cellphone’s rounded edges make it extra snug to carry for lengthy intervals of time.

It weighs 190g and is 7.3mm thick, so it appears gentle, however it might really feel barely top-heavy as a result of dense digital camera module. The gadget is 7.3mm thick, which could make the buttons appear recessed when used with thicker instances, probably affecting usability.

The Samsung Galaxy S26+ has a well-known interface, but it surely could be a little bit tough for many who are switching from older handsets or different manufacturers. The proper aspect of the machine has all of the buttons and controls for bodily interplay, corresponding to the quantity rocker on the high and the aspect key (energy) barely beneath it. The quantity buttons are positioned too excessive, making it onerous to make use of the quantity up operate with one hand, particularly because the cellphone measures 6.7 inches in peak. They are created from Armor Aluminum 2, which has a nice tactile really feel and is well-made.

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There are not any buttons on the left aspect of the gadget, which is made from smooth aluminium. This provides to its minimalist look. The design additionally contains plastic antenna traces which can be notably designed to enhance 5G reception on this model, though they do barely detract from the general visible enchantment. A extra streamlined type is seen on the high edge, the place two noise-cancelling pinhole microphones are positioned. The high body and glass are divided by a micro-slit that additionally serves as a hid speaker grille. Keep in thoughts that this small opening could gather lint and mud over time, probably affecting the stereo steadiness throughout media playback. The machine’s slim, symmetrical bezels contribute to its smooth, high-quality look.

The backside fringe of the gadget is kind of helpful because it has a centred USB-C port that works with USB 3.2 Gen 1 for quick information switch and charging. The pill-shaped speaker grille sits subsequent to this port on the correct aspect. It provides to the general sonic design of the gadget. The SIM tray positioned on the left aspect of the charging port can maintain two Nano-SIM playing cards for people and likewise helps eSIM know-how, which provides customers extra methods to attach.

Nevertheless, a critical flaw within the design is obvious. Dangerously subsequent to a microphone gap is the SIM ejector gap. This closeness brings to gentle a design flaw that might have an effect on the person expertise, corresponding to the danger of inadvertently damaging the microphone when utilizing the SIM ejector device. Overall, the underside fringe of the gadget works properly; nonetheless, this design flaw ought to be mounted in order that the microphone doesn’t get broken accidentally whereas managing SIM playing cards.

Known for its excellent consistency, the 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X show is commonplace on the Samsung Galaxy S26+. With a pixel density of 513 ppi and a QHD+ decision of three,120 x 1,440, this display screen is ready to present 10-bit color depth, sharper textual content, and extra pure color gradients. The show additionally has nearly flawless color homogeneity, free of significant issues like rainbow results and edge tinting. The show’s adaptive refresh charge can fluctuate from 1Hz to 120Hz, enabling clean transitions and optimum power effectivity.

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Whether it’s shiny exterior or in low gentle, the S26+ has a lot of usability and person expertise points.

Initially, the machine’s PWM dimming operates at a low frequency of 480Hz, which may result in display screen flickering. This flicker could trigger eye pressure and complications, particularly for customers who’re delicate. Competing merchandise, then again, use greater PWM frequencies, corresponding to 3,840Hz, or DC dimming strategies to handle this downside.

The S26+ additionally doesn’t have the Gorilla Armor overlaying that the Ultra has; as an alternative, it makes use of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for cover. This leads to lots of glare in sturdy gentle, which makes it tougher to see. To repair this, it’s steered to make use of a high-quality matte display screen protector, even when it might make AMOLED colors rather less shiny.

Samsung claims the height brightness reaches 2,600 nits, which is notable for its brightness and visibility. Yet, this degree isn’t maintained at excessive temperatures. HDR10+ movies look vivid, however outside use could cause the machine to overheat, resulting in lowered brightness to stop harm. Additionally, the S26+ displays about 4% to five% of ambient gentle, making it troublesome to view in direct daylight. As a consequence, the display screen must be brighter, which may drain the battery extra shortly.

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Lastly, although the S26+ has a QHD+ decision of 3120 x 1440 and a excessive pixel density, the low PWM frequency we spoke about earlier than causes flickering in darkish environments. This situation typically leads to signs corresponding to ocular tiredness, xerophthalmia, and display screen complications. After scrolling for a very long time, it’s possible you’ll really feel like your eyes are sandy, which means that low-frequency flicker is one issue that worsens these issues.

Samsung appears to be specializing in brightness requirements moderately than tackling the problems of reflection and eye pressure, which their Chinese rivals have efficiently addressed this 12 months, given the current state of the market.

The speaker quantity of the gadget is spectacular; it’s one of many loudest skinny telephones in the marketplace proper now. However, when the quantity is turned all the way in which up, customers could discover that the excessive frequencies sound harsh.

The AI Audio Eraser device does job of creating dialogue clearer throughout film playback; nonetheless, it might’t be utilized in all apps because it doesn’t have a common equaliser. The machine’s haptic suggestions is in sync with the audio output, providing you with a vibrational bass expertise. However, when the gadget is placed on onerous surfaces, customers could really feel a buzzing sensation from the haptic motor.

The gadget can play again movies at 8K high quality at 30 frames per second and helps HDR10+.

The Galaxy S26+ is a incredible alternative for anybody who desires a smartphone that appears good and works properly. It has mixture of sturdiness, design, and efficiency.

Performance and Cameras

The Exynos 2600 processor differentiates the Samsung Galaxy S26+ in India from Snapdragon fashions, making certain efficiency optimised for the Indian market. Manufacturing is finished utilising a 2nm know-how, which highlights effectivity and highly effective AI capabilities. Its 12 gigs of RAM and over two million AnTuTu factors (20,10,232) put it within the dialog for finest flagship smartphone of 2026.

Under on a regular basis use, the S26+ performs properly; but, within the scorching Indian summer season, energy consumption may enhance by roughly forty per cent in comparison with Snapdragon-powered smartphones, leading to appreciable overheating. The gadget doesn’t shut down instantly when it will get too sizzling, but it surely does decelerate considerably. Additionally, Samsung has elevated the vapor chamber dimension by 29 per cent to enhance warmth dissipation and deal with thermal points.

The machine’s skinny profile, which is simply 7.3mm thick, helps it maintain warmth, particularly across the quantity buttons, making it onerous to make use of for lengthy intervals of time when it’s sizzling exterior.

5G connectivity is kind of steady, though utilising the machine as a hotspot may make it warmth in a short time. The 2nm know-how is nice on colder days as a result of it makes the battery last more. However, because the temperature rises, the cooling system works tougher, which drains the battery sooner. In brief, the Exynos 2600 chipset is kind of highly effective, but it surely has bother with warmth, notably in excessive temperature circumstances.

The gaming efficiency is nice, and it might run any recreation on the Play Store at most settings. However, when the machine turns into hotter, it’s possible you’ll discover lots of body drops. AI processes operate properly, however in addition they make the machine heat up shortly underneath heavy utilization.

The machine has an AMD-based Xclipse 550 GPU, which helps it produce high-quality textures. The machine can be optimised for in style video games like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile, permitting it to run video games at near-perfect body charges of 90 to 120 FPS. Users ought to count on only a few body dips, particularly within the first 30 to 40 minutes of gameplay, which makes for a seamless gaming expertise.

The S26+ additionally has a complicated AI Frame Booster that makes use of a 2nm Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to neatly predict when frames will go down whilst you play. This characteristic makes it simpler so as to add synthetic frames, which is particularly helpful throughout intense squad battles when clean efficiency is important. This improves the general recreation expertise in high-demand eventualities.

The machine’s contact sampling functionality is nice because it makes video games extra responsive, particularly for flick photographs. However, utilizing the gadget for a very long time in sizzling climate could make it much less delicate and correct to the touch, which might negatively impression the general gameplay expertise.

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The smartphone presents helpful game-focused options like Priority Mode, which minimises calls and notifications that will help you keep centered throughout gameplay. It additionally contains Bypass Charging; nonetheless, when enabled, the machine typically overheats, probably limiting extended gaming periods.

The Samsung Galaxy S26+ runs One UI 8.5, which is predicated on Android 16. It has superior AI options designed to reinforce the person expertise. The Indian version of the S26+ contains some bloatware, which means it comes with many further purposes you’re unlikely to make use of, corresponding to LinkedIn, Microsoft 365, and Netflix.

Because of this, customers are suggested to spend round quarter-hour altering their settings to make the interface simpler to make use of. Samsung presents these third-party purposes in India due to regional partnerships within the nation. But we bypassed the set up of most third-party suggestions throughout the preliminary setup.

The addition of the Agentic AI system is an enormous step ahead for this smartphone. It lets the cellphone handle primary duties by itself, making day by day actions simpler for the person. The Galaxy S26+ additionally provides an enormous privateness enchancment: a know-how that routinely blurs vital data earlier than sharing it with others, which protects person information.

The machine has a Creative Studio that lets customers edit pictures with pure language instructions, making it straightforward to make use of for digital pictures. Getting the prompts accurately takes some observe, but it surely’s most likely probably the most enjoyable half. Also, the Audio Eraser 2.0 know-how eliminates background noise in real-time throughout video conversations or recordings, enhancing audio readability and person communication.

Samsung has made large enhancements to its animation engine, making transitions smoother and extra versatile. This makes the person expertise higher, particularly on gadgets with a 120Hz show. But the Exynos 2600 CPU, which makes use of AMD’s RDNA 4 GPU structure, has brought about issues with efficiency.

Several apps, corresponding to Zomato, Lightroom, Canva, and LinkedIn, are nonetheless not optimised for this structure, resulting in stability points. We sometimes skilled small stutters, particularly with resource-intensive banking apps like HDFC Bank and ICICI iMobile, or when accessing the Google Feed. The Exynos thermal administration typically halts the Canva app to preserve energy if you change away to answer to a WhatsApp message.

You have to attend for the entire undertaking to load once more if you return. The Exynos CPU has 12GB of RAM, however the software program that comes with it’s moderately aggressive about managing reminiscence. It closes background apps to maintain the machine cool, which implies that apps that have been used earlier than must be reloaded when the machine opens once more.

Samsung’s One UI 8.5 has a brand new glassy transparency design that makes the person interface appear higher by including frosted glass components to it. This replace offers the Quick Panel and notification shade a high-end translucent design that adjustments color to match the wallpaper, making it appear higher than One UI 7. The animation engine has been a lot enhanced, making scrolling elastic and interruptible animations work higher. This makes the person expertise extra fluid.

Also, new options like Now Nudge and Now Brief are supposed to make the app simpler to make use of whilst you’re being proactive. Now Nudge suggests you share your location in messaging purposes, and Now Brief sends you a day by day AI-generated abstract of your calendar occasions, climate updates, and information proper on the lock display screen. Some of you, then again, could discover these options annoying and wish to alter your settings to get fewer uninvited context-based suggestions.

Over that, Samsung has promised to offer the S26+ with seven years of working system and safety upgrades, which implies that customers will be capable of get help till 2033.

The Samsung Galaxy S26+ has a much better digital camera than final 12 months’s mannequin. The {hardware} design is generally the identical because the one earlier than it, though there are some necessary adjustments, such because the Exynos 2600 CPU, which has a greater picture sign processor (ISP). The AI options in One UI 8.5 additionally make taking footage day by day a lot better, making it simpler for shoppers to take high-quality footage.

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The rear of the S26+ has three cameras: a 50 MP wide-angle digital camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, a ten MP telephoto digital camera with an f/2.4 aperture, OIS, and 3x optical zoom, and a 12 MP ultra-wide digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree subject of view. The entrance digital camera is a 12 MP wide-angle digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The rear cameras can file 8K video at 24 or 30 frames per second and 4K video at 30 or 60 frames per second.

When it involves taking high-quality footage, the primary sensor is the place the digital camera system actually shines.

During the day, the S26+ smartphone does an incredible job of capturing a large spectrum of colors, even in sturdy gentle. It has nice depth and readability in daylight, making it nice for panorama and architectural pictures. Users could crop pictures with out dropping texture.

However, it options noticeable shutter lag that can lead to movement blur if topics change path or transfer shortly, notably in poor lighting circumstances. The sensor successfully maintains element in shiny areas and prevents the sky from turning into overexposed, however it might sometimes render colors, particularly greens and reds, too vividly.

In low gentle, the sturdy OIS enables you to take 2-second handheld photographs with minimal blur, and the Night Mode works properly with much less lag. However, cropping pictures with aggressive AI noise suppression may trigger a watercolour impact that impacts the superb texture high quality.

The ultrawide sensor has a 12MP lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a 120° subject of view, holding the colors in keeping with the first sensor throughout the day. However, it has some obvious shortcomings, corresponding to fixed-focus capabilities that make macro capturing troublesome and visual nook softness and lowered element on the edges of pictures.

The sensor struggles in super-low gentle as a result of it can not gather sufficient illumination, leading to grainy and darkish pictures that lack shadow element. Without Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), its efficiency diminishes additional in low-light circumstances, making it extra appropriate for brightly lit environments.

The ultrawide sensor works properly for informal daytime capturing, but it surely doesn’t work as properly in low gentle or whereas taking high-resolution panorama pictures because it makes sure efficiency trade-offs.

The telephoto lens is nice for avenue pictures when the lighting is excellent, like throughout the day. It makes the backdrop blur look pure and exquisite, and it focuses on the topic properly. However, it’s necessary to keep in mind that the 10MP sensor’s low decision makes pictures appear a lot much less acceptable if you attempt to utilise digital zoom at 10x or 20x. This is kind of totally different from the Ultra’s higher periscope zoom efficiency.

 

In low gentle, the digital camera can take good close-up pictures, however when it turns into darkish sufficient, it often reverts to its major 50MP sensor. This change can enhance noise and scale back the standard of pictures taken at 3x magnification attributable to cropping. Overall, though the S26+’s telephoto sensor performs properly in beneficial circumstances, it faces important challenges in less-than-ideal lighting, highlighting its limits and the necessity for cautious dealing with to provide the most effective photographic outcomes.

The selfie digital camera has a 12MP decision and an f/2.2 aperture. It additionally makes use of Dual Pixel Autofocus (AF) know-how. The digital camera has distinct benefits when used throughout the day. For instance, it captures sharp concentrate on faces and eyes, which is useful for a variety of pictures kinds, from close-ups to group pictures. It additionally helps 4K video recording at 60 frames per second (fps), which makes it simpler to shoot high-quality footage.

For low-light efficiency, the digital camera employs Nightography know-how, which considerably enhances its capabilities in dimly lit environments. The swift autofocus operate works successfully to scale back blur, thus enhancing total picture high quality even underneath difficult lighting circumstances.

However, there are important downsides, particularly in high-contrast environments the place AI processing could end in over-sharpened options. This could emerge as an unnatural look on pores and skin textures and facial hair, giving the phantasm of being manufactured or digital.

The S26+ has a 4,900 mAh battery, which is similar dimension because the one earlier than it. However, its effectivity profile has modified lots. The gadget has a 2nm design that makes the battery last more, so in case you’re doing delicate to average actions like studying emails, browsing social media, or listening to music, you’ll have round 30–35% battery life left on the finish of the day.

The Exynos 2600 processor doesn’t work in addition to the Snapdragon mannequin whereas doing intensive actions like capturing 4K video or utilizing 5G navigation for a very long time. This implies that the battery life is round 2.5 hours shorter.

The Samsung S26+ nonetheless makes use of the 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0 commonplace, however the Ultra mannequin now helps charging at 60W. When utilizing a suitable 45W PPS charger, the battery can go from 0% to roughly 65% in about half-hour. The charging pace drops dramatically after the battery proportion hits 80%, which is sweet for the battery’s well being. Because of this, the final 20% of the cost may take so long as the primary 50% to complete.

It’s price noting that Samsung didn’t embody a charger within the field, so consumers might want to purchase a selected USB-PD 3.0 with PPS brick to get the 45W charging pace. If you employ an older 25W Samsung charger as an alternative, it might take round an hour and twenty minutes to completely cost.

The S26+ smartphone has Qi2 wi-fi charging options, which allow an influence output of as much as 20W. This kind makes use of magnetic chargers that enhance alignment all through the charging course of, which helps to lower warmth emission. Furthermore, the S26+ helps reverse wi-fi charging at 4.5W; nonetheless, it’s supposed primarily for emergency use. While this operate is helpful for charging Galaxy Buds, it’s fairly gradual and might overheat the machine’s again whereas in use.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S26+ is a secure and regular enchancment that has an ergonomic design that makes it extra snug to make use of. At Rs 1,19,999, it’s barely dearer in comparison with its rivals that present extra superior options. This mannequin is nice for anybody who desires a much bigger display screen with out the additional weight of the S26 Ultra. It additionally presents a luxurious really feel and a clean software program expertise with One UI 8.5, which is thought for avoiding common bloatware points.

The Indian model has an Exynos 2600 (2nm) chipset inside, which presents it highly effective synthetic intelligence capabilities. However, it might additionally turn into too sizzling whereas it’s working at most pace, particularly in sizzling climates.

However, competitor handsets are famous for providing extra options like 100W+ charging and improved digital camera programs, contributing to the notion of a Samsung Tax for the S26+. On the intense aspect, the S26+ has a noteworthy 7-year software program replace promise, in addition to excellent post-purchase help geared completely for the Indian market.

The machine is really helpful for customers who prioritise a big show and dependable software program help over fast charging. However, it might not meet the wants of significant macro pictures lovers and people who desire quick charging, because it doesn’t embody superior digital camera options or fast charging know-how which can be generally favoured by these customers.

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Pros

• Comfortable and skinny
• Gorgeous, sharp and shiny QHD+ show
• AI beast
• Reliable major and selfie digital camera

Cons

• Lacks anti-reflective glass and 480Hz low PWM flicker
• The Exynos 2600 throttles underneath excessive temperatures.
• Slow charging

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