Samsung Galaxy Unpacked August 2026: Live updates from the launch of the next S26
Engadget · C · trust 51/100
We’re expecting to see the Galaxy S26 FE.
Screenshot by Cherlynn Low (Samsung) Samsung is hosting another Unpacked today, and the company says the fanfare is for the "newest addition to the S26 family." Given we've already seen a trio of Galaxy S26 flagships earlier this year, and being very familiar with Samsung's device lineup, we can make a highly educated guess that this is likely going to be the launch of the S26 FE.
The FE series is typically a lower priced version of the company's premium handsets, usually with some compromises on cameras and processors. In its announcement for this event, Samsung said the next S26 family member was "purposefully designed to bring many Galaxy S26 experiences from camera to AI, along with the latest One UI, to those who look for what truly matters most to them."
We don't expect there to be many surprises, nor for the presentation to last very long. The show starts at 8AM ET, which gives us some time to hang out with you all in the meantime. Leave us a comment below with your thoughts and questions, we'd love to chat with you here!
The event ended over an hour ago, and to summarize, it was really a bunch of short videos of people talking about the S26 FE. These people included Huh Yunjin from Kpop band Le Sserafim and creator Valstech. One of the more noteworthy things about the S26 FE is its $699.99 starting price, which is about $50 higher than the previous generation.
As you can see, Mat has already received (and unboxed) his review unit of the Galaxy S26 FE and will be putting it through its paces before we publish our evaluation. Thanks for joining us today! We appreciate you reading our words.
And, as fate would have it, just as we close our Galaxy Unpacked liveblog, this arrived:
Alright, a final spec dump before I actually close this liveblog for today. The S26 FE's triple rear cameras feature a 50-megapixel main camera with a f/1.8 aperture. The 12MP ultrawide has a 123-degree field of view and a f/2.2 aperture, while the 8MP telephoto offers 3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom. Its aperture is f/2.4.
There's actually been quite a lot of Apple news this week already, including a new cheaper polishing cloth. But I know my audience and will not bore you with Apple things. Instead, might I interest you in a Pokemon-themed Fitbit Air ? Google announced it this week too.
Speaking of, if you're a Samsung fan you probably don't care, but Apple did announce the date of the next iPhone launch just yesterday. It will be happening on September 9. Which I guess is somewhat poetic because 9+9 = 18 and we're expecting the iPhone 18?
That should be the last phone-related Unpacked from Samsung this year, and I'm expecting maybe another surprised event later in the fall. I'm still holding out hope for a new Galaxy Ring, and there's also probably some kind of XR-centric launch coming.
By the way, while our understanding is that there will only be 128GB and 256GB options available, we're seeing reports that in other regions like Europe and the UK, there will also be a 512GB model. Just not in the US.
I'm ready to wrap this up but I have a... spidey sense... that a lot of you are here. Do you have questions? You can check out our hands-on with the S26 FE for some early impressions. Or leave a comment with your burning thoughts!
I'll just list some final specs out here before I leave. The S26 FE is rated IP68 for water- and dust-resistance. Its 6.7-inch FHD+ display refreshes at up to 120Hz and gets as bright as 1,900 nits. That's not very bright to me, but I'm also more familiar with the numbers of recent flagships like the Pixel 11 Pro. Oh and I guess it'll ship with Android 17 and One UI 9.
What else would you all like to know about the S26 FE? (Comment in the system below I guess). We will be getting ready to review it soon, I'm sure, but in the meantime I have specs! The wireless charging speed is 15W, for instance.
One more little spec tidbit for you all. The Galaxy S26 FE comes with one of Samsung's Exynos 2500 processors, not a Snapdragon chip.
I know better than to fully trust product images by companies, but this one does look quite gorgeous. The "RGB" at the end of the file name does tell me something about the color processing though.
I have to say, I am liking the look of that green hue. In some of the product pictures it almost looks iridescent.
For those of you who are more visual processors, here are some images Samsung shared with media.
If you're just joining us now, the Unpacked "event," if you can call it that, is over. It was a 10-minute video stream, really, that featured Huh Yunjin from Le Sserafim and creator Valstech. Not much was shared by way of specs, which I guess is what I'm now here for. Leave us your questions, or read our hands-on of the S26 FE !
Battery capacity is at 4,900mAh, RAM starts at 8GB, storage options are 128GB and 256GB.
Jay Victor in the comments asks "nothing on how much RAM or storage or battery capacity?" And yes, Samsung's video stream did not get into details BUT have I got the answers for you.
Sam says that, starting at $700, the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is "a handset similar in size to an S26+ with specs closer to an A57." I'm not sure I would pay FE money for A-series specs!
I'm sure this could have been an email but what can I say? I like to liveblog. Like Mat said, our own Sam Rutherford has gone hands-on with the S26 FE already, calling it a perfectly cromulent budget flagship. While I think "budget" and "flagship" makes for a bit of an oxymoron, I think he makes a few good points.
I promise you, Mat, it's over. The video ended with a quick summary of what the S26 FE offers for the money, before fading to black on the last notes of a song with the lyrics echoing "I'm good with it."
Yep, that's it! Thanks for watching along, and you can check out our first impressions from our own Sam Rutherford, right here: Galaxy S26 FE hands-on .
The stream is just blank. I don't think…
Read the original at Engadget →
Open in TruthVane →