SCIENCE & TECH: All your questions about buying a Galaxy S26 answered – including preorder dates, opening deals, and carrier discounts

It’s official: the next Samsung Unpacked keynote will take place on Wednesday, February 25. In this, we’ll almost certainly see the unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, with preorders going live immediately after the event.

If you’re already thinking about preordering, then you’ll find all the confirmed details right here, including the opening promotions. Luckily, Samsung has already released some information on its Galaxy S26 reservation page, which you can use to reserve your device and get $30 of store credit on the house.

From what I can see, no concrete details have been published by AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or other major carriers. You can expect their opening Galaxy S26 deals to roughly be in line with Samsung’s own, with a few exceptions. I’ve included predictions on the most likely scenarios below.

Before we jump in, it’s worth noting that the information released by Samsung so far is essentially a teaser. Specs, major features, and even the actual names of the devices haven’t been unveiled yet. We’d be shocked if these weren’t the Galaxy S26 series, but bear in mind some information on this page is speculation.

You can already reserve a device and get a bonus

Galaxy S26 deals: what we know for certain

• Trade-in rebates of up to $900
• Reservations at Samsung, AT&T, and Best Buy
• Option for $150 store credit

It’s not just reservations that are detailed on the Samsung landing page – the brand has also detailed its initial trade-in rebates. According to the banner, you can expect rebates of up to $900 this time around, which I expect will apply to both major carrier devices and unlocked options.

The maximum rebate of up to $900 will likely only apply to the Ultra specifically. As is usually the case with these types of deals, the retailer usually staggers the maximum rebates based on how much the device costs. The Plus may also get $900 off, but I expect the standard Galaxy S26 will be up to $800 if it costs $799 upfront, maybe even less.

One little interesting tidbit of info that was shared with us from Samsung is that the official store will also be offering $150 in store credit as an alternative to the trade-in rebate. This is a relatively common deal at Samsung, but it usually only crops up after a few months. It’s by no means a rare promo, but it is very handy for picking up a few accessories on the side.

If the store credit is $150, then that should be enough for a free pair of earbuds, a wireless charger, or a cheaper smartwatch. In some cases, that won’t cover the entire cost of another device, but it’s definitely nice to have.

Do we know anything about carriers yet?

Nothing yet. None of the major carrier sites have been updated yet with teasers or information. AT&T is supposedly one of the retailers offering reservations right now, but I haven’t seen any signposting on its site (if you do see it, let me know in the comments).

I wrote a pretty detailed predictions piece last week with what I think are the most likely scenarios for carrier deals. In short, I expect trade-in rebates from $800 to $1,200 off, depending on the value of the device, with the biggest savings being tied to the higher-end plans at the carriers.

There’s an outside chance that we could see some carriers actually waiving their trade-in eligibility this time around, as that’s become a more common trend in recent months. That tends to be more of a thing on the slightly cheaper devices in the range, and, you’ll almost certainly still need a pricey ($60 to $100 per month) unlimited plan over the duration of 24 to 36 months.

Are these deals better than last year?

Unfortunately not! I’d love to be able to bring some good news to our readers, but as you can see from my coverage of last year’s event, the official Samsung Store’s opening deal isn’t quite as good as last year’s.

For the 2025 launch, Samsung offered a trade-in rebate of up to $900 and $300 of store credit, so this year’s promotion isn’t quite as strong. The trade-in rebate is still good, but you’re not getting that big helping of credit on the side, which is a little disappointing, but not entirely unexpected.

What do we know about the Galaxy S26 series so far?

From a hardware perspective, the Galaxy S26 series is tipped to bring another step up in performance, likely powered by a next-generation Snapdragon for Galaxy chipset. Design-wise, however, it’s expected to closely follow the look and feel of the current Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra.

One intriguing rumor centers on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which could introduce a new display privacy feature that lets users quickly enable or disable a built-in privacy mode. It’s not a headline-grabbing change, but it could prove genuinely useful for anyone checking sensitive content while out in public.

You can check out our Galaxy S26 rumors rated page for a full run-down of how likely we think these new features are.