Galaxy S26 Plus Makes a Comeback—Alongside a Slimmer Edge Model in Samsung’s New Lineup

The Galaxy S26 lineup could be Samsung’s strongest yet—but let’s be real, we hear that claim almost every year. Only time will tell if it actually delivers.

What does say a lot, though, is Samsung’s choice to keep the Galaxy Plus model alive. The brand has never been big on ultra-thin phones; it’s long leaned into more substantial, feature-packed designs, and that hasn’t changed. Not too long ago, rumors swirled that Samsung planned to kill off the Plus variant in favor of the flashier Edge model—a slimmer, less powerful option that was supposed to be the future of the Galaxy S line. But now, reports out of Korea suggest the Galaxy S26 Plus is still in development—and it’ll join the S26 Pro, S26 Edge, and S26 Ultra when the series launches.

The Galaxy S26 Plus Is Officially Back

Contrary to earlier rumors that it was getting the ax, Samsung is keeping the Galaxy S26 Plus around. The company has quietly greenlit a new development project called “M Plus”—a direct reference to the Plus model in the S26 series.

The news broke first via Korean publication The Elec, which notes Samsung has already informed its parts suppliers about the shift—and those suppliers are already gearing up for production. For context, Samsung previously teased three codenames for the S26 lineup: M1, M2, and M3. Insiders confirmed these map to the standard, Edge, and Ultra models, respectively. The Plus’s return was almost inevitable, though—sales data for the S25 series made it hard to ignore.

Back in September, Samsung shared forecasts with suppliers showing underwhelming sales for the Galaxy S25 Edge: between September and December, it was on track to move just 300,000 units (at most). By comparison, the Galaxy S25 Plus—launched earlier this year—was projected to sell 500,000 units in the same window. The top sellers? The S25 Ultra (around 3.4 million units) and the regular S25 (about 2.9 million units).

Do the math: with the S25 Plus starting at an average of $1,000, those 200,000 extra units over the Edge translate to roughly ₩270 billion in additional revenue for Samsung—or $200 million. Ditching the Plus line would have hit the company’s bottom line hard. Even if it’s never been the most popular Galaxy model, those hundreds of thousands of units add up to serious cash.

Samsung Is Going All In on the Galaxy S26 Series

Samsung’s suppliers are already prepping four distinct OLED display panels for the S26 lineup—but that doesn’t guarantee all four devices will actually hit the market. The final call is still with Samsung, and we’re expecting that decision to drop in the next few days.

One big shift: Samsung appears set on using its own Exynos 2600 chip—rather than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon—for the standard Galaxy S26 models in Europe. For context, every Galaxy S25 variant this year relied on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip across most regions. It’s a bit of a letdown, since the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite 5 is a top-tier processor—but Samsung has said Exynos will “preferentially apply” in Europe, meaning it’ll be the default there. Snapdragon will likely still power models sold in the U.S. and other markets, though.

Samsung has also shaken up its camera supply chain. It’s added South Korean firm MCNEX, which will now handle production of the S26 Ultra’s 50MP 5x folded zoom camera. Until now, that job fell to Samsung Electro-Mechanics and China’s Sunny Optical—but Sunny Optical has faced quality issues over the past two years, prompting the switch.

As for camera specs? Rumors suggest the standard Galaxy S26 will pack a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP 3x telephoto lens, and a 12MP selfie camera. The Galaxy S26 Pro—positioned as the new base-tier model—will feature a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 10MP 3x telephoto, and a 12MP selfie shooter. And the S26 Edge? It’s expected to sport a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 12MP selfie camera.