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During its Unpacked event today, Samsung announced three new Galaxy S-series phones as well as the latest generation of its earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. Pre-orders are now open and the new devices are set to ship March 11. As expected, this years models arent drastically different from last years, but all the phones are equipped to better handle the Galaxy AI experiences such as Now Nudge that offers suggestions based on your activities and a more conversational assitant in Bixby (or Gemini or Perplexity depending on your preferance). Engadgets own Sam Rutherford is on-site in San Francisco for the new hardware launch and will have hands-on impressions. Well follow that up with official reviews in the next week. But if you cant wait for our final verdict, heres how to pre-order Samsungs Galaxy S26 phones and the Galaxy Buds 4 today. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-pre-order-the-samsung-galaxy-s26-phones-and-galaxy-buds-4-180500976.html?src=rss
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Google unveiled a new batch of Android updates, including more Gemini-powered tools and improved scam detection features at Samsungs Galaxy S26 launch on Wednesday. A new feature in the Gemini app will let users hand off multi-step tasks, like ordering a rideshare or building a grocery cart. The feature, which will first arrive in beta, runs in the background while users perform other tasks. Gemini's progress can be monitored live via notifications, so users can see what it's doing and jump in at any time. Google Google says this feature will initially be limited to certain food, grocery or rideshare apps. It will be available first on select devices, including the Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10, in the US and Korea. Android is also getting an upgrade for Circle to Search, enabling it to search for multiple objects seen on screen at once. One implementation of this is full-outfit searches using "find the look." Once the app has found all the individual pieces of the circled outfit, users can try them on virtually. This will be available on Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 devices. The beefed-up feature can also be used to gain insights into multiple objects in an image. Google The company is also using Gemini to bring on-device Scam Detection for calls to Samsungs Phone app. The tool alerts users if someone on their call is using speech patterns commonly heard from scammers. Google says the feature is never used while on a call with someone in your contacts and is off by default. Google The same technology and approach will also be used to detect scams in Google Messages. For now, scam detection on phone calls is only available on the Galaxy S26 in English in the US, while detection in messages is supported across various markets. All of these new features are available now on the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 lineups, with availability in select markets varying by feature.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-announces-new-android-ai-features-coming-to-the-galaxy-s26-and-pixel-10-series-180039674.html?src=rss
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As we prepare to leave the winter months, Samsung announced another family of Galaxy S flagships for those looking to upgrade. As usual, the company put its best components and features into the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but it also added more to the base S26 and S26+. The company has hit its groove with its smaller (and cheaper) flagships, delivering solid devices with increasingly better cameras, occasionally even offering feature parity with its most expensive smartphone. In 2026, thats what were getting, with the 6.3-inch S26 ($899) and 6.7-inch S26+ ($1,099). Both phones are more expensive than last year, and its often a game of spot-the-difference when it comes to showing whats new. Fortunately, the best parts have been retained, too. Samsung has unified the design style across the entire S26 series, with the same corner ratios, curved edges and other design touches. While I tested both phones, Ill focus on the S26. Barring screen differences and battery size, theyre identically specced. This years S26 color selection has a premium Samsung mood to it that I cant quite explain. Does purple mean Samsung to my brain? Maybe. Cobalt Violet is the particular shade Im talking about, but there are also blue, black and white colors. Additional silver and pink-gold options will be available as online exclusives. Theres not much else to say about the design: its another Galaxy S flagship, and if it aint broke Mat Smith for Engadget Samsung has increased the battery capacity to 4,300 mAh on the S26, while somehow maintaining the same thickness as last years S25. However, the S26+ has the same 4,900mAH battery as its predecessor. All S26 devices will launch with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, with bigger storage options available. With the S26, Samsung has slightly increased the screen size to 6.3 inches, up from last year's 6.2-inch S25. The S26 comes with a familiar camera trio: a 50-megapixel main sensor, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto with up to 3x optical zoom. On paper, thats identical to last years base S25. However, Samsung has improved performance with its ProScaler technology for upscaling images and an MDNIe chip, which the company says provides four times the color precision compared to previous devices. There are software improvements too, with video features being the most tangible upgrade, among more AI-assisted photo editing tools. Super Steady video has been upgraded to a 360-degree horizontal lock. This camera mode uses the S26s gyroscopes to maintain a consistent horizon even as you rush to chase a pet or family member while recording, or to capture snowboarding buddies. (Theres always a snowboarding example when a company mentions horizontal lock.) Its nice to see a feature were used to finding on gimbals and action cams built into an unashamedly mainstream phone like the S26. Auto Framing is another new feature coming to both 4K and 8K video capture. It uses AI to lock onto subjects and automatically tighten framing to what you want to capture. Even during brief testing, I was intrigued and liked the dramatic punch-in effect as I recorded nearby people. It creates a faux-panning effect as it tracks moving subjects, something you might have experienced with Center Stage on Apple devices. Samsung has also upgraded image processing on its front-facing cameras with a new Object Aware Engine for improved portrait mode shots, hair textures and more accurate skin tones. Based on my early testing, images seemed sharper than on my older Samsung devices, even though this is (again) largely the same 12MP camera as last year. With processors, it's getting a little more complicated. In the US, Samsung's entire S26 series will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, but in Europe, both the S26 and S26+ will be powered by the companys own Exynos 2600, apparently the worlds first 2nm chipset. Comparing it to Snapdragons top mobile processor, however, will have to wait until review time. With more power for AI functions, Samsung has continued to evolve and expand its AI software, although it seems less of a priority this year. Only one AI feature stood out during my briefing: Audio Eraser. While this launched on the S25, it only worked on audio and video you captured yourself. Now, Samsung expanded it to most major video platforms, including Netflix, Instagram and YouTube, adding the ability to strip out noise and distractions and amplify the volume of voices. It was especially effective with a rowdy replay of an Arsenal football soccer match, and sounded like I was listening to a dedicated commentary channel. Interestingly, unlike many sound editing apps and features, it will work on downloaded videos on those platforms without an internet connection. Elsewhere, Now Nudge will attempt to suggest actions based on whats happening onscreen, such as sharing contact numbers with someone or suggesting calendar times while dealing with work emails. Samsungs Now Brief can pull information and notifications from a wider array of apps and sources to deliver in its daily briefings. However, again, thats hard to assess at this early stage. There are several more qualityof-life software updates, too, like the ability to sift through all those screenshots after theyve been automatically categorized into sections like barcodes, events and more. If you cant get enough AI image generation, you can now use Photo Assist to edit your photos using descriptive prompts. Elsewhere, Circle-to-Search now supports multiple, well, circles, if youre looking to tag and search for multiple objects at once. Mat Smith for Engadget Its not the most exciting year for Samsungs smaller flagship phones. While the S26 Ultra can boast a new Privacy Display thats the first of its kind, the rest of the S26 family have a little too much in common with their predecessors. The new video features seem useful and intuitive, so theres more to explore there. Well have more to say in our full reviews soon. Both the Galaxy S26 and S26+ launch on March 11th and are available to preorder now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s26-hands-on-launch-date-price-180005654.html?src=rss
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