The Samsung Galaxy S26 series will have new cameras, a custom chipset, and better AI

23 hours ago 8
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus in Navy Blue held in hand showing the back
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

  • A Samsung exec teased some aspects of the Galaxy S26 series during an earnings call
  • They mentioned that these phones will have a custom chipset, new camera sensors, and next-gen AI
  • They claimed that combined these will revolutionize the user experience

Samsung is already talking up the Galaxy S26 series, as while these phones probably won’t land before January – and may not launch until March – Daniel Araujo, the VP of Samsung’s Mobile Experience Division, has teased some of what we can expect.

In Samsung’s Q3 2025 earnings call (via Android Authority), Araujo claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S26 series will “revolutionize the user experience with user-centric, next-gen AI, a second-generation custom AP, and stronger performance, including new camera sensors.”

So there’s a little to unpack there, but talk of a custom AP likely refers either to Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2600 chipset or a custom ‘for Galaxy’ version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. In all likelihood it refers to both actually, as Samsung typically uses a mix of Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets depending on model and region.

The question of cameras

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra Review

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The mention of new camera sensors is more self-explanatory, but a change in sensor could mean big upgrades, including higher megapixel counts, or it could be a much smaller change, leaving the cameras similar to how they are on the current models.

If nothing else though, this does at least suggest a rumor that pointed to completely unchanged cameras on the base Galaxy S26 might be wrong – though it’s possible Araujo is just referring to the Plus or Ultra models here.

We had previously heard that the base Samsung Galaxy S26 might either have a new – but still 50MP – main sensor or a new 50MP ultra-wide camera though, so it now looks likely that one or both of those leaks could be correct.

Finally, there’s talk of next-gen AI, which isn’t much of a surprise, but suggests that AI will once again be a big focus on these phones – though whether any of this will truly “revolutionize the user experience” is more questionable.

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Hopefully Araujo’s claim here isn’t an exaggeration though, because if it’s not then the Samsung Galaxy S26 series could rank among the most exciting phones of 2026.


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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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