3 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Samsung

Founded in 1938, Samsung is the largest chaebol in South Korea. The myriad of companies under its brand are some of the biggest in their respective industries, but Samsung Electronics is the most notable. It makes some of the most popular phones in use today, and its flagship portfolio includes the Galaxy S-series and foldable Z-series devices. It also makes televisions, tablets, computers, headphones, and many of the displays, chips, and batteries found in devices from Apple, Sony, and others.

Nathan Edwards
Nathan Edwards
How to watch Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2026.

Why, it’s right here on The Verge dot com! Samsung’s event kicks off at 1PM ET / 10AM PT on February 25th. It’ll be streaming on YouTube, and we’ll have Allison Johnson, Sean Hollister, and Owen Grove live blogging from the event.

Live: Samsung unveils new Galaxy phonesLive: Samsung unveils new Galaxy phones
Allison Johnson and Sean Hollister
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds might support gestures.

Specifically, head gestures like nodding or shaking to accept and decline calls, SammyGuru reports. The upcoming Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro will also reportedly let you operate your phone camera remotely by squeezing the earbud stems, and activate Find My Phone using the earbud charging case.

Leaked illustration of Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 design and pinch control features.
Images leaked via an APK teardown show some of the new features that may be available for the Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro, including the “Pinch and Hold” controls.
Image: @antonioig002
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Samsung’s new Bixby hits beta.

The “conversational” assistant was announced for phones last month, after a rollout on TVs, and is now available in the One UI 8.5 beta in the US and a few other countries. Expect to hear more about it, and its full release plans, at next week’s Unpacked.

Allison Johnson
Allison Johnson
Looks like we can expect more AI from the Galaxy S26 camera.

Samsung is teasing “a new Galaxy camera experience” coming next week, saying that “the latest Galaxy AI experiences will bring advanced creative tools to one place.” A handful of teaser videos — along with those AI-generated ads — give me the impression that we’re going to see more AI tools crammed into the camera system. But maybe calling it “the brightest Galaxy camera system to date” confirms the rumors of brighter apertures, which could do a lot more for image quality than some AI editing tools.

Who needs a laptop when you have a folding phone?

You may not like it, but big phone and tiny keyboard is what peak performance looks like.

Allison Johnson
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 leak reveals a new design that looks less like AirPods.

Android Headlines has shared renders of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro expected to be announced at the next Samsung Unpacked event. The new design features metal strips on the stems to help distinguish them from Apple’s AirPods, and they both now lie horizontally in their charging cases which carry forward transparent lids.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro inside their charging cases.
The Galaxy Buds 4 (left) and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro (right) look less like Apple’s AirPods with a strip of brushed metal on their stems.
Image: Android Headlines
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 lineup might look familiar.

Based on renders from Android Headlines, it doesn’t seem like Samsung will change things up too much with the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, or S26 Ultra. Samsung is rumored to launch the phones at an Unpacked show on February 25th, though the company hasn’t actually announced an event yet.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Samsung Unpacked is coming.

It’s not officially official, but leaks from Evan Blass are pretty close.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Samsung’s AR glasses are coming this year.

That’s according to Seong Cho, head of marketing for mobile, during today’s quarterly earnings call. Discussing plans for 2026, he mentioned XR form factors including “next-generation AR glasses.” Samsung has been developing the glasses with Google as a follow-up to Galaxy XR, but this is the first we’ve heard of a release window.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Samsung’s new AI Bixby is coming to phones.

The new “conversational” Bixby sounds similar to the one already rolled out on some Samsung TVs, bolstered by web search powered by Perplexity. It’s available in beta in One UI 8.5, which we’re expecting to launch alongside the Galaxy S26 series some time next month.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Samsung adds new sizes of Frame TVs, but is backing away from the One Connect Box.

CES saw only a very minor update to the Frame family, with the mainline adding 75-, 85-, and 98-inch models, and the Frame Pro now coming in a smaller 55-inch size. Oddly, only two of the seven mainline Frame models will support the One Connect Box — the 43- and 50-inch.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Samsung’s redesigned Mobile Gaming Hub is here.

In addition to the new look, available on Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets, the app has “personalized content suggestions, and video integrated directly into the application to help players explore and enjoy the gaming experiences that matter most to them,” according to a press release.

An image of Samsung’s redesigned Mobile Gaming Hub.
Image: Samsung
The best phone to buy right nowThe best phone to buy right now
Allison Johnson
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Samsung profits surge on memory chip crisis.

The chip shortage created by our desire to watch AI-generated videos of Trump and Maduro dance in matching Nike sweatsuits, has nearly tripled Samsung’s profits for the quarter, as memory prices surged 40-50 percent.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Now there’s really no excuse for leaving the refrigerator door open.

As Jen Tuohy demonstrates, Samsung’s new Family Hub lineup can use voice control to close the refrigerator door, in addition to a slew of other AI-enabled features.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Hands-on with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Trifold.

Three folding panels, two sets of hinges, and a frame that’s just barely thinner than a USB-C port, what more could you want? Allison Johnson finally got some hands-on time with Samsung’s trifold at CES 2026, and she’s already thinking of ways to replace her laptop.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Samsung CEO warns of higher phone, TV, and gadget prices.

The global shortage of memory chips is great news for Samsung’s semiconductor business, but bad news for its consumer electronics business. Co-CEO T M Roh speaking to Reuters:

“As this situation is unprecedented, no company is immune to its impact,” Roh said, adding that the crisis affects not only mobile phones but other consumer electronics, from TVs to home appliances. He did not rule out raising product prices, saying some impact was “inevitable.”

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Leak shows how the Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display will work.

Rumors that the S26 Ultra would have some anti-snooping tech built into the screen have been circulating for a while. Now we’ve got an animation showing how the feature will work inside of One UI 8.5. There will be a toggle in the display settings, but you’ll also be able to add a Quick Settings toggle, or even automate it based on which app you’re using or if you’re in a crowd.

Animation of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display toggle.
Privacy Display options in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra menu.
Privacy Display options in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra menu.
1/3Image: SammyGuru
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
The Samsung Galaxy A17 5G will start at $199 when it launches in the US next month.

The budget-friendly smartphone is “slimmer and lighter” than its predecessor, and will be available on January 7th. It features a 6.7-inch display with an up to 90Hz refresh rate, along with 4GB of RAM and up to 2TB of expandable storage.

Samsung is also launching the Galaxy Tab A11+ in the US on January 8th, starting at $249.99.

Image: Samsung