Everything Samsung Announced at Its August 2026 Galaxy Event

Samsung had already given its flagship Galaxy S26 series the spotlight earlier this year, so another Galaxy event arriving just weeks after its July Unpacked naturally raised a question about what was left to show.

The answer came on August 27, when Samsung introduced the Galaxy S26 FE, a cheaper entry point into its flagship family. 

It starts at $699.99 in the US and goes on sale from September 4, while selected carriers get it from September 3. Samsung positioned the S26 FE around three areas, which are bringing flagship-style camera and AI features to a wider audience, improving everyday usability, and offering longer software support.

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Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is The Main Announcement

The Galaxy S26 FE was the headline reveal. The Fan Edition model keeps much of the Galaxy S experience while cutting back on some of the hardware found in the more expensive S26 models.

Jay Kim, Samsung's Executive Vice President and Head of Customer Experience Office for the Mobile eXperience business, said the phone was “purposefully designed to deliver the signature strengths of the Galaxy S series”.

The S26 FE has a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,900 nits of brightness. It runs on Samsung's Exynos 2500 chip and comes with 8GB of RAM, with 128GB and 256GB storage options.

The phone also gets a 4,900mAh battery and 45W wired charging. Samsung says it can reach a 69 per cent charge in about 30 minutes when used with its 45W adapter.

The Camera Upgrades Are About Software

Samsung has given the S26 FE a triple-camera system comprising a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilisation, a 12MP ultra-wide camera and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. The front camera is 12MP.

Interestingly, My FanCam uses AI to automatically keep a chosen person in frame, letting users turn a wider recording into a subject-focused video. Audio Eraser can reduce unwanted background sounds, while Horizontal Lock helps keep video level when the phone moves during recording.

One UI 9 brings more Galaxy AI to the FE

The S26 FE is the first device in the Galaxy S26 family to launch with One UI 9, Samsung's latest Android interface. The software brings several AI-focused changes that were previously associated with Samsung's more expensive devices.