Deals: Galaxy S26 series now available, S25 and Pixel 10 models on sale

The Galaxy S26 series launched globally this week and Wednesday was your last chance to pick up an S26 series flagship with a free storage upgrade. Now you will have to pay the full price for 512GB storage. However, the phones still come with an Amazon gift card.

Pre-orders for the S26 series in the US have increased by 25% and that’s almost entirely on the back of the new Galaxy S26 Ultra features. Features like Horizon Lock and Generative Edit, along with the privacy performance in particular, attracted the crowd. Check out our review for our thoughts on the new Ultra. And if you decide you like what you see, you can get a $200 Amazon gift card on top of that.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S26+ is available as a cheaper option, but you’re still looking at paying over $1,000 – or exactly $1,000 if you subtract the $100 gift card. Plus there’s no privacy display, no 200MP main, no 5x ALoP periscope, no fast 60W charging, no none of that. What does the S26+ offer? Check out our review for a closer look.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S26 gets upgrades like a larger 4,300mAh battery (+300mAh) and now matches its siblings with 256GB of base storage. It also has a slightly larger 6.3″ screen (up from 6.2″), which matches the Pixel 10 and iPhone 17 (and their Pro variants). Review coming soon. The S26 also gets a $100 gift card like the Plus model and also has a $50 Amazon credit attached to it, which the Plus doesn’t have.

While we didn’t find the S25 Ultra in stock, the older Galaxy S25+ is still available. The upgrades on the S26+ are even smaller than the S26 – it has the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, +5W on wireless charging (now up to 20W, wired is still at 45W) and… new colors, we guess. Without the free upgrade to 512GB for the S26+, the 512GB S25+ is $300 less ($200 less if you subtract the gift card).

Alternatively, you can get the Galaxy S25 FE for almost half the price. However, its 6.7″ display has lower resolution than the S26+ and S25+ (1080p+ vs. 1440p+) and it’s not an LTPO panel. Worse, you get the older Exynos 2400 chipset instead of the Snapdragon. The cameras aren’t identical, but they’re close enough — they were when we pitted the S25+ against the S25 FE, anyway.

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is one of the main competitors of the S26 Ultra in the US market. Not on chipset performance, but the phone boasts a capable 50MP 1/1.31” main and a 48MP 5x/113mm telephoto, compared to Samsung’s 200MP 1/1.3” main and 50MP 5x/111mm tele. Moreover, Pixel UI and One UI are two of the most impressive skins for Android.

Unlike Samsung, Google makes a smaller flagship that has the same cameras as the top model. That model, of course, is the Pixel 10 Pro and it sports a larger 50MP main sensor (vs 1/1.31″ vs 1/1.56) over the vanilla S26, a higher resolution 48MP with a longer lens (vs 10MP) telephoto (5x/113mm vs 3x/67mm), as well as a higher resolution 48MP ultra-wide (vs 12MP) and Comes with 42MP selfie. Cameras (vs 12MP). The Pixel 10 Pro has 128GB of base storage, but note that both Pros have 16GB of RAM, which Samsung doesn’t really want to sell you.

You can also compare the vanilla Pixel 10 with the smaller S26. It’s less capable than its Pro sibling (12GB RAM, non-LTPO display), but it rivals the S26. It primarily has a smaller 48MP 1/2.0″ sensor, a 10.8MP telephoto with a 5x/112mm long lens, and a 13MP ultra-wide. The 12/256GB model is $150 less than the S26 (or just $50 less if you account for the $100 gift card) and you can get it even cheaper with a trade-in.

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Apart from the Pixel 10 Pro XL, the OnePlus 15 will also compete with the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Or perhaps the Galaxy S26+ is a better match? They’re basically the same price. This OnePlus doesn’t have the Hasselblad cameras of its predecessors, but with a 50MP main (1/1.56″), a 50MP 3.5x/80mm and a 50MP ultra-wide, it’s a good match for the S26+. It also has a larger 7,300mAh battery with 80W fast wired and 50W wireless charging, which you can’t get from Samsung, Google or Apple.

The OnePlus 15R is also available, although it’s aimed more at the S25 FE than the S26+. It has a 6.83″ non-LTPO display, an older Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and a 50+8MP camera that isn’t a good follow-up to the more capable 13R camera. At least you get a larger 7,400mAh battery with 80W wired-only charging.

By the way, Samsung has also launched Galaxy Buds4 and Buds4 Pro today. We have the pros to review, so stay tuned for our thoughts on the new buds.