Hands-On Review of the Samsung Galaxy S26+ Smartphone: It’s a Great Upgrade Option for Android Users

If you want or need a new Android smartphone, you’re switching from an Apple iPhone, or thinking about upgrading to a one of the latest Android phone models, you have many options to choose from.

If you want the best of what Samsung’s UI 8.5 OS (Android 16) has to offer and also need a well-designed and durable phone, you can’t go wrong with any of the smartphones in the Samsung Galaxy lineup. And now that Samsung has released the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S24+, and its highest-end Galaxy S26 Ultra, the choice to upgrade to one of these phones is practically a no-brainer.

The Samsung UI 5.8 OS (which is based on and compatible with the Android 16 operating system) has evolved into something that’s extremely powerful. It offers the ability to truly personalize a user’s experience while maintaining a high level of privacy and online security.

You also get top-notch communications, productivity, entertainment, health/fitness, safety, photography/video, and organizational tools at your fingertips. Plus, the AI that’s baked into the operating system, its native apps, and the Google apps and services that come preinstalled on the phones brings this phone to the next level in terms of functionality and usability.

Many features offered by these latest Galaxy S series phones are more advanced than what even the highest-end Apple iPhone currently offers.

For someone seeking out the best-of-the-best, especially for advanced photography and videography features, the ideal choice is the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (which has a starting price $1,300).

But, if you’re looking for something that’s a bit more affordable and physically smaller, the Galaxy S26+ is an extremely well-rounded phone that can more than handle the needs of a typical user.

Once again, AT&T Wireless is one of the leading cellular service providers that supports the latest Samsung phones in the United States. They provided me with a review unit of the Samsung Galaxy S26+ about a week before it was officially released. Keep reading to learn more about my experience and initial thoughts working with this smartphone.

What the Samsung Galaxy S26+ Smartphone Offers

Choosing the best Android smartphone for your needs can be difficult. After all, there are many different models available, from brands like Google, Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, Sony, Xiaomi, and many others.

That said, Samsung’s smartphone lineup continues to be on the higher-end of the Android phone spectrum, with the Samsung Galaxy S26 lineup being the company’s three flagship models.

The differences between the Samsung Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra include their price, physical size, display size, processing power, camera configuration, and battery capacity.

The Galaxy S26 is the smallest and least powerful of the three models, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the most advanced, fastest, and comes with the S Pen stylus (allowing users to handwrite or draw directly on the screen).

Those who consider themselves power users, professional content creators, serious photographers or videographers or hard core mobile gamers will love everything the highest-end Galaxy S26 Ultra has to offer, including its large, 6.9-inch Privacy OLED display, 5,000 mAh capacity battery, extra internal storage (if you go with the 1TB configuration), and its advanced camera system (which features a main, 200MP rear-facing camera and a camera system). This phone is also larger and a bit heavier than the other Galaxy S26 models.

Meanwhile, the low-end Galaxy S26 is physically smaller and offers scaled back features, compared to the Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 Ultra. In my opinion, the mid-priced Galaxy S26+ offers the best value and performance for the average user. The physical size and weight of the phone is still very manageable, but the processor, battery capacity, camera configuration, CPU, NPU and GPU are all as good, if not better, than what competitors from other brands have to offer at a similar price. 

With a starting price of $1,100 (before trade-ins, promotional offers, or special deals), the Galaxy S26+ comes in a handful of casing colors. And at the time of purchase, you can choose between 256GB or 512GB internal storage.

This phone does not have a memory card slot, so internal storage can’t be expanded later. But, the Android operating system and many of the latest Android and Google apps rely heavily on cloud-based storage. Unless you plan to work with extremely large files or shoot a lot of video in 8K resolution, most users will easily get by with the 256GB storage option.

The Latest Galaxy AI Is Baked Into the OS and Native Apps

Where the Galaxy S26+ excels is in how it taps the power of Galaxy AI (as well as Google Gemini) to provide cutting-edge features and functions when using all aspects of the phone.

Even if you don’t need an advanced, AI-driven digital assistant at your disposal, the native apps and Google apps and services that come preinstalled on the phone all use artificial intelligence behind-the-scenes to streamline tasks, provide users with the latest information, and anticipate a user’s needs. Thanks to AI, Android can share data between apps, analyze information, and learn a user’s daily routine.

These same AI tools allow users to perform tasks that have never been possible with a smartphone. As you’d expect from an AI, users can have documents, text messages, and emails written from scratch, proofread, edited, summarized, or translated between languages in real-time.

The same AI can also monitor incoming calls, emails, and text messages to stop unwanted distractions, white bringing important information to your immediate attention. 

Web surfing has also been dramatically improved thanks to AI features that make it simple to learn more about anything displayed on the phone’s screen. But as you’ll discover shortly, what really blew my mind are the advanced (but extremely easy to use) photo editing and image enhancement tools available when working with photos while using the Google Photos app on the Galaxy S26+.

Who Will the Samsung Galaxy S26+ Appeal To?

The Galaxy S26+ smartphone’s hardware is impressive, not to mention a tad thinner and lighter than last year’s Galaxy S25+ model.

Yes, this latest mid-range model is faster and offers better overall performance than the previous model, but not to the extent the average user would notice a huge difference. I’d recommend the Samsung Galaxy S26+ to average users who want to take full advantage of what Samsung UI 8.5 (Android 16) and the latest Galaxy AI have to offer. 

Based on my testing, I believe this is a great smartphone option for average users, people looking to switch from an iPhone, or anyone upgrading from a low-end Android phone who wants more processing power, longer battery life and a better display without having to pay top dollar.

This is a smartphone designed for the masses. It’s also a good option for teens. And thanks to its customization, safety, privacy, security, health/fitness and accessibility features, it can also be a useful phone for non-tech-savvy seniors (once the phone is properly set up for them).

Taking Pro-Quality Photos, Shooting Video, and Generating Attention-Grabbing Social Media Content Using the Galaxy S26+ Is A Breeze

When it comes to the camera configuration built into the Galaxy S26+, it’s not as exciting as what you get with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but for the average user, what’s possible when it comes to shooting photos and video will likely exceed your needs and meet your expectations. Plus, the AI-driven editing and image enhancement tools are extremely impressive, yet surprisingly simple to use.

On the front of the Galaxy S26+ is a single, 12MP, auto-focus camera that’s great for taking selfies or participating in video calls and virtual meetings. On the back of the phone, there’s a main 50MP (wide), 12MP (ultra wide), and 10MP (telephoto) auto-focus camera.

These two cameras provide up to a 3x optical zoom or 30x digital zoom. Built into the Camera app are dozens of user-selectable features and shooting modes, including specialty shooting modes for portraits, night photography/videography, panoramic shots, and the ability to shoot in Pro mode or take advantage of the Expert Raw image file format.

The camera can be set up to be a basic, point-and-shoot camera that offers impressive results, but there are also manually controllable options that give users more creative control over their picture taking capabilities.

There’s also an adjustable HDR mode, but for the ultimate flexibility when capturing pro-quality content, there’s the Expert RAW mode (which is offered as a free downloadable upgrade). And if you need help while shooting, the Camera app’s AI is on-hand to help improve your pictures as they’re being taken.

When it comes to videography, you get a lot of resolution and frames-per-second shooting options, but if you want to go all out, video can be shot at up to 8K (30 fps).

Of course, there’s also a slow motion option, Portrait Video mode, Pro Video mode and Hyperlapse mode, among others. These features allow users to capture sharp, smooth, and visually impressive video with ease.

One feature I found useful (and that saves internal storage) is the option to directly store photos or video directly to a USB Type-C flash drive that’s plugged into the bottom of the phone. 

What’s most impressive, however, are the photo and video editing tools offered by the Google Photos app that comes preinstalled on the Galaxy S26+ (and all Android phones). Google Photos allows you to efficiently manage your entire photo library, share images, publish images directly to social media, back up images to the cloud, and more.

Editing and image enhancement tools are plentiful and most use AI to generate visually impressive results. For example, there’s the Magic Eraser tool that allows you to remove objects from photos, and the Move tool that allows you to rearrange items featured in a photo after it’s been taken. The Unblur tool can make an image that’s slightly blurry appear perfectly in focus.

There are also many special effect filters you can add and adjust when applying them to a photo. You can use sliders to manually adjust lighting, color, and other visual aspects of an image.

Perhaps the most impressive editing tool is the Help Me Edit feature. It allows you to tell the AI how you want a photo edited or improved using a text or voice command. For example, you can say, “Add a sunset,” “Erase the power lines,” “Brighten the image,” or “Give this photo a festive holiday background.”

And if the editing and image/video enhancement tools built into Google Photos aren’t good enough for you, the phone also comes with the Gallery app preinstalled. Plus, there are literally hundreds of optional photography and videography apps available from the Google Play Store that further expand what’s possible when taking, editing, organizing, printing, sharing, and backing up photos or videos while using the Galaxy S26+ smartphone.

From a software/programming standpoint, the tools available to you using Google Photos, Gallery, or a third-party app are identical to what’s possible using the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The big difference between phone models is their built-in cameras and respective resolutions.

Working with the Samsung Galaxy S26+ Smartphone: Initial Impressions

Especially if you already have a free Google account, or you’re upgrading from another Android phone to the Samsung Galaxy S26+, the initial setup process takes just a few minutes.

The phone walks you through the process, step-by-step. There are multiple permission screens that require users to turn on or off specific information sharing and privacy features. Be sure to read these options carefully and make selections based on your needs and comfort level. 

Once the initial setup process is complete, access Settings and tap on one menu option at a time to truly personalize the phone. This includes turning on the Galaxy AI functions, setting up Modes and Routines, adjusting Sound and Vibration options, personalizing the Display, Wallpaper, and Style options, choosing a Theme, and tweaking the Security, Privacy, Safety and Emergency settings.

By tapping on the Google Services menu option, you can turn on or off various features related to the Google apps and services that come preinstalled on the phone, plus adjust features related to Autofill, Google Wallet, Find Hub, and more. The Advance Features menu provides additional customization options that help determine the appearance of screens, fine-tune the motions and gestures used to navigate using the touchscreen, etc. 

The options that have the largest visual impact on the phone’s display are those found under the Wallpaper and Style, Display, Themes, and Home Screen menus. One of the great things about Android smartphones is the control users have over the appearance of screens and the phone’s overall performance, especially when it comes to privacy and security.

Be sure to go through each of the Settings menu options, one-at-a-time, to activate, adjust, or turn off individual features that directly impact the phone’s performance and how it reacts to your various activities and actions. Then, launch the Google Play Store to download and install additional (optional) apps to further customize and expand what the phone can do. Plan on spending at least an hour making these customizations, which will remain active until you manually change them in the future. This process only needs to be done once, however. 

During the setup process, Samsung asks you to sign into your Google account early, but then has you sign into your existing (free) Samsung Account or create one from scratch. Doing this unlocks Samsung-specific features, and allows you to activate and customize the Samsung AI functionality.

Getting Your AI Set Up

When using core phone features and native apps, Samsung AI is the primary artificial intelligence tool you’ll be using. However, when working with the Google apps and services, you’ll be working with Google Gemini. This is a slightly different user experience than you’d get from most other Android phones, including the Google Pixel phones, which rely solely on Gemini (unless you download and install other AI apps, like ChatGPT, Claude, or Microsoft Copilot).

After I went through the setup process and made all of the customization tweaks that I typically utilize when working with an Android device, I found that the overall performance of the phone was very responsive. Those already familiar with the Android OS will have little trouble adapting to Samsung UI 8.5 (Android 16). 

As I began testing the phone and putting it through its paces, I immediately discovered that the brightness, detail, and responsiveness of the touchscreen display is excellent. The 120Hz refresh rate and maximum brightness of 2,600 nits, combined with internal programming that intelligently recognizes scenes and optimizes colors all work nicely together.

Basically, this technology makes animations, video, photos, and graphics all look fantastic. However, the Galaxy S26+ does not offer Samsung’s new Privacy screen feature that’s integrated into the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This feature keeps prying eyes from seeing what’s on your screen if they’re beside you or looking over your shoulder.

Sound Quality

The sound quality of the phone (without using earbuds or headphones) is decent, considering you get a basic stereo speaker system. However, I found that pairing Bluetooth headphones or earbuds with the phone, the audio listening experience and the richness of the sound improves rather dramatically.

This also applies to calls and audio streaming. Any Bluetooth headphones or earbuds (from any brand) can be used with the Galaxy S26+, but the latest Galaxy Buds4 Pro ($250) earbuds, launched on March 11, 2026, are definitely a good option.

The Operating System

Much of what makes the Galaxy S26+ a pleasure to use is how the phone integrates with the Samsung UI 8.5 (Android 16) operating system and its latest features. For example, the new Now Nudge feature does an excellent job helping you reply to messages and emails or filling out online forms, for example.

It does this by pulling relevant information stored on your phone and making it available exactly when it’s needed. This means fewer app switches and less copying and pasting to transfer data between apps.

AI Enhanced Photos

My absolute favorite thing about working with the Galaxy S26+ is taking, editing, and enhancing photos with the help of AI.

The image editing tools are easier than ever to use, and the results are even more impressive in terms of what’s possible using the manual editing tools or AI-driven tools.

The new Immersive Viewing feature allows the phone to showcase richer colors and sharper detail when viewing images. This feature also works when streaming or viewing video and social media content. 

AT&T Deals, Promotions, and Trade-In Offers

Leading up to the official launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26+, AT&T Wireless is offering the phone for free to those with an eligible trade in phone. This deal can include a Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Tab tablet for an extra $0.99 each per month.

An activation of a new and eligible postpaid line (or an upgrade to an existing line) is also required. To learn more about the company’s current service plans, visit this page of the AT&T Wireless website.

A no interest, 36-month financing plan, with no down payment is also being offered, starting at $30.56 per month. And if you’re under contract with a different cellular service provider, AT&T Wireless offers qualified customers up to $800 per line (in the form of an AT&T Visa Reward card) to break their existing service contract. Be sure to visit the AT&T Wireless website for a complete rundown of current trade-in deals and promotional offers.

My Final Thoughts: Is the Samsung Galaxy S26+ Smartphone Worth It?

In my personal life, I have been using the Apple iPhones since the very first model was released in 2007. I’ve since upgraded every year, and currently use the iPhone 17 Pro Max. It’s only been in the past two years or so that I’ve seen such dramatic improvement in Android smartphones (particularly those from Samsung), that I’ve really come to really enjoy working with these devices and appreciate what they can do. So many features related to photography, videography, and AI integration offered by Samsung Galaxy phones are years ahead of what Apple currently offers.

The Samsung Galaxy S26+ is not the fastest or most powerful Android phone out there, but it’s definitely on the higher-end and will appeal to average users who want to get the most out of what an Android phone is capable of.

Even if you have not yet started tinkering with AI in your own life, the Galaxy S26+ offers an easy way to introduce yourself to this technology and immediately begin using it to become a better communicator, enhance your creativity, and help you stay more productive.

To quickly get up to speed using all of the phone’s newest features, launch the preinstalled Tips app and review each of the categories one at a time, starting with Galaxy AI. I found this feature to be very helpful for getting quick tutorials, plus app and feature overviews.

Especially if you can snag the Samsung Galaxy S26+ on sale, this smartphone is an absolute pleasure to work with. It also does a nice job handling graphic and processor intensive tasks, like gaming.

The phone offers a really good value for the investment. Someone who already uses the Samsung Galaxy S24+ or Galaxy S25+ probably won’t notice too much of an upgrade in performance, but for anyone using a non-Samsung or a much older model Samsung phone, you’ll certainly appreciate all that the Galaxy S26+ has to offer. 

More Smartphone Reviews Are Just a Click Away

To learn about some of the other Samsung smartphones, check out my in-depth reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. For InMyExpertOpinion, I’ve also tested and written detailed reviews of the Motorola Razr Ultra (2025), AT&T amiGo Jr. smartphone, Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL.