Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S23: Is it time to upgrade?
The Galaxy S23 is nearing the end of its software journey. Is it time to switch and get the new Galaxy S26?
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The next chapter in Samsung's flagship history has been written! The Galaxy S26 series is here, featuring the usual suspects — the Galaxy S26, the Plus, and the Ultra models. There are some upgrades on board across all devices, but today we'll be focusing on the vanilla model — the Galaxy S26.
The smallest Galaxy flagship comes equipped with a bigger screen, a larger battery, and more onboard storage. The starting price has also been tweaked in the upper direction, but this is mainly due to the base memory configuration now starting at 256GB.
Now, if you're rocking an older Galaxy S device, you might be thinking now's a good time to upgrade. Today we're going to check this out, with our comparison starring the Galaxy S23, which is almost three years old versus the fresh and shiny Galaxy S26.
Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S23 main differences:
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|
| Similar design, slightly different camera housing | Small and compact, separate cutouts for the rear cameras |
| Faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset | Three generations old Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip |
| Bigger 6.3-inch display | 6.1-inch screen, more compact phone |
| 12GB of RAM, 4GB more than the S23 | 8GB of RAM on all memory configurations |
| The same camera system for yet another year | 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP telephoto cameras |
| Bigger 4,300 mAh battery | Slightly smaller 3,900 mAh battery |
| Same wired and wireless charging speeds | 25W wired, 15W wireless charging |
Table of Contents:
Also read:
- Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S25: Expected differences
- Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S24: Two generations apart
Design and Size
Last of the 6.1-inchers
Smartphones have been growing in size in the past couple of years, and the Galaxy S series is a perfect example of that trend. The Galaxy S23 is the last S-series phone with a 6.1-inch display, coming in at just 146.3 x 70.9. It features the separate camera cutouts on its back, a trend started by the Galaxy Ultra.
The new Galaxy S26, on the other hand, stretches its display diagonally to 6.3 inches and swaps the camera cutouts for a pill-shaped camera housing, not that dissimilar to the Xperia phones of the past couple of years. Camera bump aside, the new phone looks very similar to the older generations, following the same design language Samsung has been peddling for the past couple of years.
The bigger screen brings a bigger size as well, but in this case, it seems that the Galaxy S26 is actually be lighter than the S23. Granted, by just one gram, but given the bigger screen and battery, it's impressive that Samsung has managed to pull this off.
The new Galaxy S26, on the other hand, stretches its display diagonally to 6.3 inches and swaps the camera cutouts for a pill-shaped camera housing, not that dissimilar to the Xperia phones of the past couple of years. Camera bump aside, the new phone looks very similar to the older generations, following the same design language Samsung has been peddling for the past couple of years.
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|
| Thickness 7.2 mm | Thickness 7.6 mm |
| Dimensions 149.6 x 71.7 | Dimensions 146.3 x 70.9 |
| Weight 167 grams | Weight 168 grams |
In terms of materials, there are no surprises or exotic materials on the Galaxy S26. The phone features the same aluminum frame as the previous couple of generations and the protective glass on top of the display and on the back has been upgraded to Gorilla Armor (from the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the S23).
The anti-reflective coating of the Galaxy Ultra models of the past two years has caught a lot of attention (even Apple tried one on the latest iPhone 17 series), but it's not present on the S26, it's still reserved for the Ultra model.
In term of colors, the S26 is available in Black, White, Cobalt Violet, and Sky Blue with two exclusive colors available via the Samsung Store - Pink Gold and Silver Shadow. The Galaxy S23, on the other hand, comes in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender, Graphite, and Lime.
The anti-reflective coating of the Galaxy Ultra models of the past two years has caught a lot of attention (even Apple tried one on the latest iPhone 17 series), but it's not present on the S26, it's still reserved for the Ultra model.
Display Differences
The display of the Galaxy S26 stretches 6.3 inches diagonally, which is 0.2 inches more than what the S23 has on board. The Super AMOLED tech Samsung has been using in the past couple of generations is getting brighter and brighter. The new phone is rated at 2600 nits of peak brightness according to the specs sheet.
Speaking of brightness, the S23 is listed with "only" 1750 nits of peak brightness, and in our display test the phone managed around 1000 nits at 100% APL, still quite an impressive result. We need to test the S26 to verify Samsung's claims, so stay tuned for some hard numbers soon.
Speaking of brightness, the S23 is listed with "only" 1750 nits of peak brightness, and in our display test the phone managed around 1000 nits at 100% APL, still quite an impressive result. We need to test the S26 to verify Samsung's claims, so stay tuned for some hard numbers soon.
The resolution remains unchanged on the new model, and given the S23's display is smaller, the 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution results in a slightly higher pixel density of 425 PPI on the old model, compared to the 411 PPI on the Galaxy S26.
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|
| Size 6.3" | Size 6.1" |
| Brightness 2600 nits (peak) | Brightness 1750 nits (peak) |
The biometrics are also the same in these two — the S26 sports the same ultrasonic fingerprint scanner as the one found on the previous couple of generations. This tech has been working quite well ever since Samsung introduced it, so there's no need for a change there.
Performance and Software
Cream of the crop
The Galaxy S26 launches with two different chipsets depending on the region. Users will get the Exynos 2600 silicon internationally, but in the US, Canada, Japan, and China, the S26 comes equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, tuned "for Galaxy."
This silicon is a mouthful, but Qualcomm has decided to keep the Elite moniker from last year and at the same time continue with the "Gen" nomenclature. It's a powerhouse of a chip, with benchmarks showing around 3800 points in Geekbench single-core, while the multi-core performance is even more impressive at 12400 points. The Exynos 2600 should be pretty close, and given it's made using Samsung's 2nm tech, it could even be more efficient.
Now, the Galaxy S23 is no slouch either, but it does feature quite an old chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Synthetic benchmarks put it at around 1600 points in the Geekbench single-core test and 5000 points in the multi-core benchmark. It's more than twice as slow, at least on paper. Stay tuned for benchmark results soon.
This silicon is a mouthful, but Qualcomm has decided to keep the Elite moniker from last year and at the same time continue with the "Gen" nomenclature. It's a powerhouse of a chip, with benchmarks showing around 3800 points in Geekbench single-core, while the multi-core performance is even more impressive at 12400 points. The Exynos 2600 should be pretty close, and given it's made using Samsung's 2nm tech, it could even be more efficient.
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|
| Chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Exynos 2600 | Chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| Process 3nm 2nm | Process 4nm |
| RAM, Storage 12/256GB 12/512GB LPDDR5X RAM UFS 4.0 storage | RAM, Storage 8/128GB 8/256GB 8/512GB LPDDR5X RAM UFS 4.0 storage |
The new Galaxy S26 features the same 12GB of RAM as the previous generation, but it's still 4GB more than what the Galaxy S23 has on board. In terms of storage, the S26 now starts at 256GB but don't start to celebrate yet, as the starting price is higher as well.
Camera
No upgrades once again
This is disappointing. Samsung has decided to use the same camera system on the Galaxy S26 as the one used on the previous couple of generations. For fourth consecutive year the vanilla Galaxy flagship comes with the same triple camera on its back.
We're talking about a 50MP main camera with an aperture of f/1.8 over a 1/1.56" sensor, a 12MP ultrawide and a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom. The selfie camera is also identical on these two phones.
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|
| Main 50 MP, f/1.8 24 mm 1/1.56" | Main 50 MP, f/1.8 24 mm 1/1.56" |
| Ultrawide 12 MP, f/2.2 13 mm 1/2.55" | Ultrawide 12 MP, f/2.2 13 mm 1/2.55" |
| Telephoto 10 MP, f/2.4 3X zoom (67mm) 1/3.94" | Telephoto 10 MP, f/2.4 3X zoom (67mm) 1/3.94" |
The Galaxy S23 scored 137 (out of 158) in our composite camera benchmark, so there's a huge potential for improvement. We expect the Galaxy S26 to outscore its quite old sibling, mainly with AI tricks and new software algorithms, given the camera hardware is the same, but stay tuned for the camera benchmark and some side-by-side samples soon.
Battery Life and Charging
400 mAh might not be enough
There's a slight battery upgrade on the Galaxy S26 compared to the past couple of generations - а 4,300 mAh cell inside. It's nothing radical, just 400 mAh on top of the 3,900 mAh battery that the Galaxy S23 has on board, and 300 mAh more than the previous two models.
That may or may not translate into battery life, but we hope it does, because the S23 managed just over 6 hours in our battery test, and that's out of the top 100 phones tested in the past 2 years.
| Galaxy S26 | Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|
| Battery size 4,300 mAh | Battery size 3,900 mAh |
Charging speeds 25W wired 15W wireless charging USB-C 2.0 | Charging speeds 25W wired 15W wireless charging USB-C 2.0 |
Charging also remains unchanged for yet another year. It's disappointing when we get 100W phones that charge for half an hour but it is what it is.
The Galaxy S26 features 25W wired charging and 15W wireless and Samsung cites 0-55% in 30 minutes. For comparison, the Galaxy S23 supports 25W of wired charging power and fills its battery from zero to full in 1 hour and 8 minutes. We expect similar times but will do the tests and post the results shortly.
Specs Comparison
Here's a quick specs overview of the two phones. For a detailed Galaxy S26 vs Galaxy S23 specs comparison follow the link.
|
|
| Samsung Galaxy S26 | Samsung Galaxy S23 |
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| 149.6 x 71.7 x 7.2 mm (~10 mm with camera bump) | 146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm (~9.02 mm with camera bump) |
| Weight | |
| 167.0 g | 168.0 g |
| Size | |
|---|---|
| 6.3-inch | 6.1-inch |
| Type | |
| Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz | Super AMOLED, 120Hz |
| System chip | |
|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SM8850-AC (3 nm) International version - Exynos 2600 |
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8550-AC (4 nm) |
| Memory | |
| 12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB |
8GB (LPDDR5X)/128GB (UFS 4.0) 8GB/256GB |
| OS | |
| Android (16), up to 7 OS updates | Android (14, 13) |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| 4300 mAh | 3900 mAh |
| Charge speed | |
| Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W |
Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 10.0W |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung GN3 Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm | 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung ISOCELL Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 23 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 12 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX564 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm | 12 MP (Ultra-wide) Sensor name: Sony IMX564 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm |
| Third camera | |
| 10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Samsung S5K3K1 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 67 mm Sensor size: 1/3.94" Pixel size: 1 μm |
12 MP (Telephoto, OIS) Sensor name: Samsung S5K3K1 Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 64 mm Sensor size: 1/3.94" Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Front | |
| 12 MP (HDR) | 12 MP |
| Bluetooth | |
|---|---|
| 6.0 | 5.3 |
| WLAN | |
| Wi-Fi 6,Wi-Fi 6E,Wi-Fi 7 Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax | a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax |
| USB | |
| Type-C, USB 3.2 | Type-C |
| Sensors | |
| Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor | Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor |
| Hearing aid compatible | |
| M3/T4 | |
| Location | |
| GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning | GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning |
| Other | |
| NFC, Ultra Wideband (UWB) | NFC, Ultra Wideband (UWB) |
See the full
Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Summary
The Galaxy S26 is an incremental upgrade compared to the past two generations, but if we go all the way back to the Galaxy S23, the differences become substantial. The S26 comes equipped with a much faster processor, a bigger battery, a bigger and brighter screen, and longer software support.
The base storage is now 256GB but the starting price has also creeped up at $899. If you're coming from the Galaxy S23, maybe it's time to think about an upgrade, as that phone will receive its last software update next year.
We will update this comparison with all the tests and a final verdict once we finish the review of the Galaxy S26.
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