Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Edge: Expected differences

Samsung kind of started the whole “ultra-thin” phone hype, or at least made it mainstream with the Galaxy S25 Edge. We’re now near the launch of the Galaxy S26 series, and there’s a successor on the horizon.

The Galaxy S26 Edge will be aiming to take the thin idea to new heights, shaving some thickness off its waist while adding a new ultra-wide camera, a bigger battery, and the latest and greatest Qualcomm silicon.

This preliminary comparison will try to assess all the upgrades the new Galaxy S26 Edge is aiming to bring and whether or not you should upgrade or buy the upcoming thin phone from Samsung.

Galaxy S26 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Edge expected differences:

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The leaked dummy models and CAD renders of the Galaxy S26 Edge pose an interesting question. Has Samsung decided to blatantly copy Apple? The design is very similar to the iPhone 17 Pro phones, with a large camera bump (Apple calls it “plateau”).In terms of overall size, weight, and thickness, there are some changes, too. According to the latest leaks, the new phone will be just 5.5 mm thick, mimicking what the iPhone Air offers to the thin table. A necessary clarification is needed here, the thickness at the camera bump is expected to be 10.8 mm, which is quite thick. We have to wait and see whether or not Samsung has gone this route.

*rumored

When it comes to materials, the Galaxy S26 Edge will most likely keep the same titanium frame and Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 protection as its predecessor, so no big differences here. The usual IP68 water and dust resistance will be on board, and overall we expect the same ports and buttons as the ones on the first Edge. 

That said, given the thickness of the S26 Edge, Samsung might need to develop new technology for the USB-C port; it might be 3D printed just like the one on the iPhone Air. The available colors for the predecessor are Titanium Icyblue, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Jetblack. We don’t have much information about the S26 Edge colors, but we expect similar hues.

The first Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge features a big 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 3120 pixels and a resulting pixel density of 513 PPI. It’s an LTPO panel with a 1-120 Hz dynamic refresh rate and a listed peak brightness of 2600 nits.

The Galaxy S26 Edge is expected to feature the same 6.7-inch panel with the same resolution and probably slightly better peak brightness. Some sources point toward slimmer bezels around the screen, too.

The ultrasonic fingerprint reader from the S25 Edge will most likely make a return on the next model, which is fine—it’s fast and accurate. No 3D ToF or fancy radar tech is expected for the face recognition, it will be the same 2D facial tech relying only on the front camera.

We should bear in mind that in such a thin device (as the Galaxy S26 Edge), some compromises will most likely be made with clock speeds and thermal performance.

In comparison and supporting the above, the Galaxy S25 Edge managed to score 2823 in the Geekbench single-core test and 9060 points in the Geekbench multi-core test, which is slightly lower than the top-performing devices with Snapdragon 8 Elite on board.

*rumored

In terms of software, no surprises are expected. The Galaxy S26 Edge will most likely run One UI 8 on top of Android 16 out of the box. The same combo is available on the Galaxy S25 Ultra with the same Galaxy AI bells and whistles on board, so probably not much of a difference here. 

The usual seven years of software updates will apply to the Galaxy S26 Edge as well, giving it one year on top of the projected lifespan of its predecessor.

*rumored

Coupled with the new ultra-wide camera, we expect the Galaxy S26 Edge to outperform its predecessor in the camera department.

As always, we will include side-by-side samples to show the real-life difference between the two phones once we lay our hands on the Galaxy S26 Edge.

This transformed into a 6h 22m overall score in our battery benchmark, or 98th place among phones tested in the past 2 years, which, on the other hand, is not that great.

Fret not, as there is some good news on the horizon. Samsung seems to have found space inside the Galaxy S26 Edge, because the phone is expected to come with a slightly larger 4,200 mAh battery. Whether or not this will transform into better battery life, we have to test and see.

*rumored

Charging is another area where thin phones lag behind, due to heat-dissipation restriction. The Galaxy S25 Edge features a rather slow 25W wired charging and manages to charge its 3,900 mAh battery from zero to full in one hour and six minutes.There’s no upgrade to wired charging speeds expected on the Galaxy S26 Edge, and given the larger battery, we should probably get even slower times from zero to full. There are rumors pointing toward Samsung implementing Qi2 wireless charging, including all the magnets and probably a slew of accessories coming our way.

The thin-smartphone trend is here to stay, it seems. The Galaxy S26 Edge is shaping up to be a slight upgrade compared to its predecessor, but there are some asterisks to this statement. Even though it aims for a 5.5 mm thickness, the camera bump is massive and is expected to measure 10.8 mm in thickness.

And speaking of the camera system, its design is controversial, to say the least. Early dummies and CAD renders show an alarming similarity to the iPhone 17 Pro models. How would this impact the reception of the phone, it’s yet to be seen.

There are other factors at play, such as the price and also all the tests, so stay tuned for more info soon and a final verdict.