Samsung Galaxy A26 5G Review: Sensible Compromises

Galaxy A26: Design and Display

Built around a 6.7-inch OLED display, the Galaxy A26 features relatively big bezels but is not excessively big on the hand if you are used to big phones. The build quality feels nice for the price category, with the same overall design as the more expensive options in Samsung’s lineup.

The phone is relatively thin at 7.7 mm and weighs 200 grams (around 7 oz). Besides the glass back, the front is covered by Gorilla Glass Victus+. Water and dust protection is rated at IP67, for the first time in the A20 line, matching the more expensive models.

Around the sides, the volume rocker and power button are placed on the right, with the latter integrating the fingerprint reader, which performed well–and better than most under-display optical sensors. The top houses only a microphone hole, while the left side has the hybrid SIM tray, which supports a microSD card instead of a second SIM. There is no eSIM support. Finally, at the bottom, we find the USB-C (USB 2.0) and mono speaker.

The display is a traditional Samsung Display Super AMOLED panel at a FullHD+ resolution (2320 x 1080), with a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz. As expected for the price category, the display can only switch between 60 and 120 Hz for those who prioritize battery life or smooth animations, respectively.

The brightness is good enough, with our measurements around the 700 nits mark. The Galaxy A26 is usable outdoors, but direct sunlight makes the screen difficult to read. On the other side of the spectrum, the display can go very dark when using the phone at night. As expected from an OLED panel, colors are vibrant, and contrast levels are top-notch.

Android 15 With Six Years of Support

The Samsung Galaxy A26 5G comes with the latest One UI 7 running over Android 15. Samsung promises six years of both system upgrades and security updates, leaving behind the competition in the price range. The company even lists a date for the end-of-life date of March 31st, 2031, for software support in some countries (e.g., Brazil and Germany).

With a more modest set of hardware, the Galaxy A26 does not support most of One UI 7’s AI features, such as the Daily Brief widget on the lock and home screens. Using the phone’s default interface feels like a throwback to the simpler days of One UI 5, before the AI hype infiltrated every little corner of the system, but with the modern design brought by the 2025 system version.

We counted 10 pre-installed apps on a clean installation, with 27.1 GB of used storage space after updating the system and apps. It is far from ideal, but only Nothing offers a cleaner installation in this price range with the CMF Phone 1 and other models.

Galaxy A26 5G Performs Like an A35 or A54

Powered by the Samsung Exynos 1380 processor, the Galaxy A26 5G offers the same level of performance as the Galaxy A35 and A54 we tested in the past years powered by the same chip. It also comes with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, with some regions also getting 8/256 GB versions. As mentioned above, storage can be expanded using a microSD card with up to 2 TB.

Performance in daily usage was fine for the category, with some hiccups while opening or switching apps, applying some filters/options, or some transitions in the interface, starting to show the age of the 2023 chip.

In our synthetic tests, the Galaxy A26 performed almost on par with Dimensity 7000-series rivals such as the CMF Phone and the Redmi Note 14 Pro. 3D gaming left the Samsung phone slightly behind, as reflected on the 3D Mark and AnTuTu scores.

Speaking of games, the Galaxy A26 should run most modern games, albeit at lower graphical settings. Performance under PUBG was smooth, and the phone didn’t show signs of overheating.

Good Main Camera on the Galaxy A26

Despite having a triple-camera kit on the back of the Samsung Galaxy A26, we can already discard the 2-megapixel macro camera. It performs badly (as expected) with noisy, low-resolution images. The other cameras are usable, though, if you know their limitations.

For starters, the main camera returned good pictures in daylight, with a decent level of detail, sharpness, and colors. Even 2x digital zoom shots could be usable for sharing on messaging apps or social media, but going beyond that is asking too much of the small sensor.

At night, shots from the main camera were usually noisy but still OK for the category. Night mode usually helps with brightness while keeping light sources under control, but you will need a steady hand to keep images sharp.

The ultra-wide is rather limited at 8 megapixels, with a much smaller sensor. This results in images with less detail, as expected, but also rather washed-out colors, all still fine for the price. The modest specifications hurt night shots especially, with very dark and noisy photos at low light. Besides that, the ultra-wide camera didn’t offer a Night mode during our review.

Daylight selfies were surprisingly good on the Galaxy A26 5G, with a good level of detail and no beauty filters. In fact, all skin imperfections seemed to be reproduced realistically. Portrait mode on the selfie camera was average, with some difficulty separating the subject from the background. At night, however, the results were rather soft, especially when Night mode is activated.

Good Enough Battery Life

When it comes to battery life, the Galaxy A26 shows the age of its 2-year-old processor. The Exynos 1380 was never famous for being an efficient chip, and our experience reflected that. The 5000 mAh battery on the phone was good for little more than a day of battery life, although very light usage can take it close to reaching the end of a second day.

In the PCMark test, simulating a constant workload with the display on, the Galaxy A26 lasted 11h31min with between 80% and 20% charge. The runtime was one hour less than the Galaxy A54 with the same chip and almost 3 hours behind the CMF Phone with a more modern and efficient chip.

Charging redeems the Galaxy A26 a little, with a full charge taking a little less than 90 minutes and a maximum input of 25 watts. The charging speed may seem modest at first, but it is perfectly fine for the category. Just remember, there is no charger in the box.

Where to Buy the Galaxy A26 5G

The Samsung online Store offers the Galaxy A26 smartphone in a single version, in black, and 128 GB of storage space. MSRP for the phone is $ 299.99. There are also trade-in deals, store credits, and discounts when buying an accessory like earbuds, fitness trackers, or a Galaxy Watch.

Outside the US, the Galaxy A26 5G is available in four color options (black, white, green, and pink), with 4, 6, or 8 GB of storage, and 128 or 256 GB of storage. For Latin America, the phone is even equipped with a slower processor, so be aware if buying from marketplace sellers.