Just when we were getting used to Samsung launching its flagship devices of the year in the first month, the company decided to switch things up this year. The event is expected to happen in just a few weeks.
But before the date was leaked online last weekend, there had been a lot of rumbling, leaks, and rumours flying about over what Samsung is going to unveil this year. We expect to see the classics, like the S26 lineup and refreshed earbuds. But there are a lot of possible surprises from this year.
So, based on industry leaks and all the rumours flying about, here are the things to expect from Galaxy Unpacked 2026.
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When it's happening and how to watch
Rumours and a leak of the Galaxy Unpacked event invite from Evan Blass (@evleaks) point towards the event happening on the 25th of February. Pretty late compared to their trend over the past few months, but no complaints here.
To keep up with the event as it unfolds, Samsung typically has a livestream running on its website and its YouTube channel.
The Galaxy S26 Series
For the S26 Series, Samsung is most likely sticking to its core trio—the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra—but the internal components are getting a massive upgrade to support the new AI era.
According to the leaks, the visual experience is getting a significant upgrade, as the entire lineup finally adopts M14 OLED panels. This technology pushes peak brightness to about 3,000 nits across all three models, ensuring that outdoor visibility is absolute even under direct sunlight. The S26 Ultra takes this a step further with a standout hardware feature dubbed the "Privacy Displayenables custom-built "Agentic AI" to run directly on the device, allowing for faster responses with reduced." This hardware-level toggle instantly narrows viewing angles, allowing you to check sensitive emails on a flight or public transport without the person next to you reading along.
For performance, reports indicate that all regions will receive the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. This chip enables custom-built "Agentic AI" to run directly on the device, allowing for faster responses with reduced reliance on the cloud. To support this heavy lifting, the standard S26 is expected to start at 12GB of RAM, while the Plus and Ultra models start with 16GB as the standard, with a 1TB storage option likely available for power users.
On the camera front, it was reported that the S26 and S26+ receive a new 50MP main sensor with a larger f/1.6 aperture, specifically designed to fix Samsung’s historical struggle with capturing moving subjects in low light. The Ultra retains its 200MP resolution but introduces a new variable telephoto lens. This mechanism physically shifts between 3x and 10x optical zoom, effectively eliminating the digital noise usually found in that middle range.
It is also rumoured that for the S26 series, Samsung is addressing the battery density challenge by using stacked battery technology borrowed from the EV industry. This allows for higher capacity without increasing the phone's thickness, resulting in a 4,300 mAh cell for the S26, 4,900 mAh for the Plus, and a massive 5,000 mAh for the Ultra. The S26 series is expected to support the Qi2 wireless charging standard. This means the phones will feature magnetic alignment rings built into the back—just like Apple’s MagSafe.
Galaxy Buds 4
The Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro are expected to launch alongside the phones. The iconic "blade" stem design features a sleeker look and sits well against the ear. The Pro model distinguishes itself with a new "Adaptive Voice Pickup" feature that detects when you start speaking and automatically drops noise cancellation while pausing your media. Consumers can expect these to launch in standard colours alongside a new hero "Cobalt Violet" option to match the phones.
European leaks suggest a price point of around €179 ($212) for the standard buds and €249 ($295) for the Pro, keeping them competitive with Apple's AirPods Pro.
Software, AI, and everything else
Alongside new hardware, Samsung is expected to highlight updates to its software and AI ecosystem at Galaxy Unpacked. The company launched One UI 8 with last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, and this event could mark the official release of One UI 8.5, which has been in beta since December.
The stable update is expected to bring an expanded dark theme, improved Home Up support, new lockscreen widgets, resizable folders, and better inter-device connectivity. One UI 8.5 is rumoured to lean further into AI, with features pointing to a system-level notification summary tool, Samsung’s take on Apple’s Notification Summary, alongside other contextual AI enhancements.
Samsung may also use Unpacked to signal a broader AI strategy. While it remains one of Google’s closest Android partners, reports suggest the company is exploring deeper integrations with Perplexity. In June 2025, Bloomberg reported on a potential deal to bring the AI search engine into One UI and Samsung’s mobile browser. A refreshed version of Bixby, which Samsung has already hinted at, could also be announced, positioning it as an alternative to Google Gemini.
Together, these updates suggest Samsung is pushing toward a more flexible, multi-AI Galaxy experience.
