The Galaxy S26 Is Days Away—But Samsung's Secret Weapon Isn't The Camera

The Bottom Line: The Galaxy S26 series drops February 25, and the spec sheets are already leaked. But here's what nobody's talking about: Samsung just gave the S25 Ultra its best iFixit score in a decade, and the S26 is positioned to capitalize on the Right to Repair laws taking effect this year. This isn't about AI gimmicks or megapixel counts. This is about whether you actually own the phone you're paying €999+ for.

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The Spec Sheet Reality Check

Let's get the numbers out of the way first. The full spec sheets dropped last week, and my reaction was... lukewarm.

The Galaxy S26 (€999 starting): 6.3-inch display, Exynos 2600 in Europe, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage, 4,300 mAh battery. That's a 300 mAh bump over the S25. Everything else? Nearly identical.

The S26 Ultra (€1,469 starting): Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage, 200MP main camera, 5,000 mAh battery with 60W wired charging. The camera array got a refresh—new 50MP ultrawide with autofocus, improved periscope telephoto.

Here's the thing: These are iterative updates. Samsung's own teasers admit the focus is AI, not hardware. (Translation: "We couldn't justify the price hike with silicon alone, so here's some software features you'll disable in two weeks.")

The screens haven't grown. The base model still doesn't get the faster charging of the Ultra. And nobody at Samsung has apparently heard of Qi2 magnets—every model still ships without them.

The Friction Factor: What Samsung Isn't Advertising

I've been auditing phones for fifteen years, and there's one spec that matters more than camera megapixels: repairability. Because a phone you can't fix is a phone you'll be paying to replace sooner than you should.

Here's where it gets interesting.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra just earned Samsung's highest iFixit score in a decade. Battery replacement? Four adhesive pull tabs and the cell literally falls out. No heat guns, no prying, no destroyed back glass. That's a massive shift from the glued-in nightmares Samsung shipped for years.

Why now?

Look at the calendar. January 1, 2026: Colorado and Washington's Right to Repair laws took effect. July 2026: Connecticut joins. September 2026: Texas. By fall, over 35% of Americans will be covered by state laws requiring manufacturers to provide parts, tools, and documentation for repairs.

Samsung isn't being generous. They're being compliant. And honestly? I'll take it.

Why This Matters for the S26

When the S26 hits shelves, it'll be the first flagship Samsung launches under active Right to Repair enforcement in major US markets. That means:

• Batteries you can actually replace. Not "authorized service center only." You. With a screwdriver and a guide.
• Parts availability. Screens, charging ports, camera modules—Samsung has to stock them and sell them at fair prices.
• Documentation. No more proprietary diagnostic tools that only authorized techs can access.

This is the real upgrade. Not the Exynos 2600 or the AI camera features. It's the fact that when your battery dies in year three—a certainty, not a possibility—you won't be shopping for a new €1,000 phone.

You'll be spending €40 on a battery and twenty minutes with a spudger.

The "Old Version" Test: Where the S26 Actually Wins

Usually, I'm the guy telling you to buy last year's model. The S25 Ultra is now cheaper, has nearly identical performance, and will get software support for years. But the S26 launch changes the math.

Right to Repair coverage isn't retroactive. Colorado's law applies to devices sold on or after July 1, 2021—but enforcement and parts availability ramp up now. The S26 will launch with full compliance infrastructure already in place. The S25? It's in a gray area.

If you plan to keep your phone for four years—and you should—the S26 is actually the smarter buy. Not because of the processor. Because of the repair ecosystem that launches with it.

(The box says "AI-powered." My audit says "repairable." Only one of those matters in 2028.)

The Competition: Apple's Playing Defense

Here's the part Samsung won't put in their keynote: iPhone 16 Pro Max still beats the S25 Ultra on iFixit scores. Apple's been quietly improving repairability—self-service diagnostics, easier battery swaps, parts pairing workarounds.

The S26 is Samsung catching up, not pulling ahead. But they're catching up fast, and they have something Apple doesn't: pressure from state legislatures with teeth.

California, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, Minnesota—this isn't a patchwork anymore. It's a trend. And Samsung knows which way the wind is blowing.

Who Should Skip This

Let's be clear about who doesn't need the S26:

• S23 or S24 owners: Your phone is fine. The camera upgrades are marginal, the performance delta is smaller, and by the time you actually need a repair, the parts ecosystem will exist for your device too.
• Anyone buying for "AI features": Samsung's AI suite is... fine. Live Translate is useful. Circle to Search is neat. Neither justifies a four-figure upgrade from a two-year-old phone.
• Budget-conscious buyers: The S24 will drop in price immediately. If you don't care about repairability, that's still the better value.

The Bottom Line

The Galaxy S26 isn't a revolutionary device. It's a predictable iteration with one critical difference: Samsung is finally building phones that respect your right to fix them.

That's not PR fan-fiction. That's legislation forcing corporate behavior to align with consumer interests.

If you're buying a flagship phone in 2026 and you plan to use it for more than two years, the S26 is worth considering—not for the Exynos chip or the 200MP camera, but for the adhesive pull tabs holding the battery in place.

Listen: your money is better spent on a device you can repair than a device you're meant to replace. The S26, for all its incremental updates, finally passes that test.

I'll have a teardown analysis as soon as I can get my hands on one. Until then, keep your calipers handy and your skepticism sharper.

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Elias Vance is the founder of GadgetGuide.blog. He carries a digital scale, refuses phone cases, and has been using the same ThinkPad for six years because "they haven't made a better keyboard yet."