The Samsung Galaxy S26+ (256GB) is currently $890 on Amazon — that’s a little less than we’ve seen it in recent weeks, and $200+ off a phone that’s less than three months old is a solid discount.
That said, the 2026 model doesn’t bring many upgrades over its predecessor: there’s the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and slightly faster wireless charging (20W versus 15W, though still without magnets). Meanwhile, a lot of flagship features are still missing, things like a high-resolution sensor in the telephoto lens, 10-bit color for the display, or an IP69 rating (though the latter is mostly for bragging rights).
So, you might want to consider last year’s Samsung Galaxy S25+, which offers a broadly similar experience for $700: That’s $190 less than the S26+ for 256GB of storage, and the gap is a bit bigger if you look at the 512GB phones. The S26+ offers longer battery life (active usage score of 16:25 hours vs. 14:26 hours), the new chipset has more oomph, the speakers are nicer, and there are some minor camera upgrades. You can read about these things in detail in our article Galaxy S25+ vs. Galaxy S26+.
There are two reasons to buy the standard Galaxy S phone: one is because you want the small Galaxy S model, the other is because you want the budget Galaxy S model. The former is still true, even after Samsung bumped the display diagonal up to 6.3″. The latter is also true, if only barely: There’s only $65 separating the 512GB versions of the S26 and S26+.
Then there’s the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. This one got most of the updates this generation, including the unique Privacy Display. You can see how the S26 Ultra compares to the S26+ here. The $200 discount is solid (again, it’s been less than three months since launch), but the S26 Ultra is still one of the most expensive models on the US market.
Last week, the Samsung Galaxy A37 got its first real discount: $50 off. It wasn’t huge, but it was a start and the price continues to drop. This week the 6/128GB base model is $75 off. However, the 8/256GB upgrade hasn’t changed much. That’s what you want unless you’re willing to compromise: the additional RAM and storage will make a big difference over the six-year life of this phone. Or you could wait for a deal on the Galaxy A57.
Meanwhile, the Motorola Razr 2026 trio is available for pre-order – shipping will begin on May 21 (Thursday). We’ll give a brief overview of each, but we’ll save the best for last.
Not much has changed with the Motorola Razr Ultra 2026 compared to last year – not even the chipset, it’s still a Snapdragon 8 Elite. The battery is a little bigger at 5,000 mAh (+300 mAh) and the screen a little brighter at 5,000 nits (+500 nits), but overall this is a fairly minor upgrade.
The Motorola Razr+ 2026 is in a strange situation: it’s a small improvement over the Razr+ 2024 from two years ago. It has a larger battery (4,500mAh versus 4,000mAh) and a new 50MP ultra-wide camera (which is arguably more useful than the previous model’s 2x/47mm telephoto), but that’s about it. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset is great for a flagship killer, but not for an $1,100 phone.
The Motorola Razr 2026 doesn’t stand out from the pack and is an iterative update at best. The battery increases by 300 mAh (4,800 mAh total), and its ultra-wide camera now has a 50 MP sensor (up from 13 MP). However, the Dimensity 7450X offers only a small modem upgrade over the 7400X, and the Dimensity 7400X itself wasn’t all that different from the 7300X.
As promised, here’s the best option among the current lineup of Razr phones: last year’s flagship, the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025. It’s cheaper than the three models above, even the vanilla one, which only has half the RAM and storage. It has the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip as the Ultra 2026 while costing less than half as much. While there are Ultra 2025 units available at this price point, the Ultra 2026 would be a tough sell.
Start a new Thread