- Reports cited by Forbes say Samsung is weighing a 44,000–88,000 won price increase for Galaxy S26 models.
- The same report points to a Galaxy Unpacked event on February 25 at 7 p.m. Central European Time, according to Dealabs.
- A separate Forbes report says early Geekbench listings show “10.80 GB” of memory for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Ultra.
Samsung’s next flagship, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, is already getting the kind of rumor that makes shoppers pause: a possible price increase. A report highlighted by Forbes says Samsung is still weighing a hike of 44,000 won to 88,000 won per model.
That lands at an awkward time for anyone planning an upgrade, because the same Forbes report points to a February 25 Galaxy Unpacked event at 7 p.m. Central European Time, citing Dealabs.
If those two things hold — higher prices and a late-February reveal — Samsung’s usual playbook of launch promos and trade-ins suddenly matters more than the spec sheet. People don’t buy $1,000-plus phones by staring at the MSRP; they buy them by doing math on deals.
The pricing talk, as described in Forbes, traces back to a report from South Korea’s ET News that Samsung is still debating an increase in that 44,000 to 88,000 won range.
And it’s not just about whether the sticker goes up. Forbes also flagged the “deals risk” angle, pointing to how aggressively Samsung has discounted recent Ultras — including a Black Friday cut that put a Galaxy S25 Ultra (512GB) at $859.99.
On the specs side, a separate Forbes item zeroed in on early performance chatter — and one specific number that stood out. It notes Geekbench listings for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Ultra showing 10.80 GB of memory.
Geekbench is the benchmarking app that spits out quick CPU scores and a handful of device details, and it’s often the first place a prototype shows up in public. The same Forbes story frames the long-running question as “Snapdragon or Exynos” — Qualcomm’s chip versus Samsung’s in-house option — but says the current leak points to Snapdragon, paired with “a little less memory” than some buyers were hoping for.
PCMag’s own roundup of S26 rumors, teased in a post from the publication, also suggests Samsung may be tinkering with the lineup and the software layer: it mentions talk of ditching the “Edge,” potential Perplexity AI integration, and better Qi2 wireless charging compatibility.
Put that together and you get a familiar tension for Samsung’s Ultra phones: a lot of small “nice to have” changes on the table, while the big stuff — price and core hardware configurations — is where people decide whether to jump. If the Ultra costs more, buyers will look harder at what they’re actually getting for it.
One big caveat: none of this is official. Prices can vary by region, early benchmark listings can reflect pre-production hardware, and even a real launch date leak doesn’t guarantee final retail timing or the mix of launch promos.
For now, the most practical thing to watch is what Samsung actually puts on the Unpacked stage if February 25 is the date: not just the headline price, but the fine print on trade-ins, bundles, and what “memory” and chip choices look like across markets.
