- Samsung can now stick to its usual S series naming scheme
- We’ve also heard that the S26 Edge may not launch
- The phones could appear later than normal, sometime in March
It would seem that the Galaxy S26 development process is not going as well as Samsung had hoped: earlier this week we heard that the Galaxy S26 Edge may have been cancelled, and now there are new rumors about launch delays and rebranding of the phones.
First, the brand change. Several previous leaks had suggested that the base model of this series would be called the Galaxy S26 Pro, perhaps to increase the phone’s appeal and match Apple’s iPhone series, but now it appears that that is no longer happening.
According to sources who spoke to SamMobile, the entry-level phone will actually just be called the Samsung Galaxy S26 after all, after the Samsung Galaxy S25. If the Edge variant is also removed, we will get the usual Standard, Plus and Ultra models.
We had our doubts about how smart it would have been for Samsung to give a base model phone the Pro moniker, even though it’s the base model of a relatively powerful flagship series, and now the phone won’t be directly compared to the iPhone 17 Pro, which would probably have happened otherwise.
A longer wait
The second rumor revolves around a launch window. According to TechManiacs (via GSMArena), all this fuss around the name, and perhaps stopping production of the Galaxy S26 Edge, means the devices won’t see the light of day until March.
You have to go back a couple of years to the Samsung Galaxy S23 to find the last time these S series phones didn’t launch in January, and even then, they made their debut in early February.
Samsung won’t be happy about having to push back its 2026 schedule, but if the phones aren’t ready, there’s not much that can be done. In a change from the Galaxy S25 range, at least some of the Galaxy S26 models are expected to come with Exynos chipsets inside.
TechManiacs has a checkered history with leaks, but it’s certainly plausible that the S26 phones could be delayed, given the rumors so far. Interestingly, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is said to be scheduled for January, so it may appear before the others in the series.
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