Small top-tier Android is great to use, being fast, AI-loaded and with reasonable battery life, but falls short of rivals on camera
Samsung’s compact flagship phone hasn’t changed much in a year, but the S26 is still one of the best smaller handsets available as rivals grow larger and larger.
The S26 is the cheapest and smallest of this year’s top Samsungs, dwarfed by the top-of-the-line S26 Ultra in size and price. But like everything with a memory chip at the moment, the S26 has increased in price by £80 or the equivalent to £879 (€949/$899/A$1,349). At least it has double the starting storage.
Samsung has made the S26’s bright, crisp and smooth screen a smidgen larger, stretched to 6.3in on the diagonal. But with skinny bezels it is only 2.7mm taller and 1.2mm wider than its predecessor, which isn’t noticeable in use.
The design is simple and feels good in the hand, with flat aluminium sides and a frosted glass back. The phone’s 167g weight feels very light by modern standards making it easier to hold and pocket.
