Why the Galaxy S26 Plus May Be Samsung's Last Mid-Tier Model

the Galaxy S26 Plus. It might just be the worst deal when it comes to Samsung phones. For most companies, you have the base model and in between model and the big everything you need model. And each year, every phone gets at least a few new upgrades, unless you are the S26 Plus. I'm Paul and this is the reason why I think that this year the S26 Plus should probably be the final ever Plus version from Samsung. I don't want this to sound too dramatic, but in 2026, the S26 Plus just shouldn't exist. The argument for this phone existing is usually people want a bigger phone. They want a slightly bigger battery than the smaller model. And I get that. But over the last couple of years, Samsung have

just kept the Plus model the exact same. And in fact, I went back to watch the Galaxy Unpacked event from this year. And can you guess how many times that this phone was mentioned at Unpacked? Yep, you got it. Zero. Not a single mention of the Galaxy S26 Plus. It's like Samsung have just forgotten about the Plus model completely. And I feel like the world's easiest job right now is probably the department at Samsung where you need to work on this phone because it's just copy and paste year after year. And I'm not wrong in saying this because over the last four years, this phone is basically the same. If we just forget about the jump that Samsung

make between Exinemos and Snapdragon all the time with the Plus, I feel like I can count on one hand how many changes that the Plus model has gotten over the last four or so years. The biggest change probably came in 2022 with the Galaxy S22 Plus when the main camera jumped to a 50 megapixel and then we saw a proper three times optical zoom. And you'd think, wouldn't you, over the last four years that the cameras on this phone would have slowly gotten a little bit better, but they haven't. Like hardware-wise, they are exactly the same cameras as we saw in 2022. And I do get it. This is not the ultra model, so the changes will be small, but they're not even small. They basically don't exist.

Take the ultrawide camera for example. This has had zero changes since the S21 Plus. I mean, like, this is really poor. I know that the argument from a few people will be, "Yeah, but people don't buy the Plus models for its cameras." And that's fine. I totally agree with you. Not a lot of people do buy the plus models for the cameras. But what you're doing is you're forking out $1,099 for this phone. So, you want some sort of upgrade. And actually, if you do want to upgrade the storage, you're going to have to pay $1,299 for an S26 Plus. Like, that is that's crazy. If you look at the S26 Ultra, it's only about $200 more expensive. And if you're already willing to pay $1,100, then what's another $200 to get an

infinitely better phone. The way I see the S26 Plus is a little bit like that Starbucks pricing method. Like, just bear with me. You go in thinking you're going to get a medium because a small might not give you exactly what you want, but a large is probably a little bit too much. But then you see that a large is only about 40 cent more expensive than a medium. And then you start thinking, well, why would I not just go for a large? you're going to get way more for barely any extra money. And that is the point. The medium or the plus in this case, it then stops making any sense and actually starts to look like a worse deal because if you go for the large or the ultra, you get a lot

more for your money. You get a much better main camera and a five times optical. You can record in log. You get a nicer display with that new privacy display, faster charging, bigger batteries, more RAM. You get a Snapdragon chip if you buy it outside the US, an S Pen, a larger vapor chamber. I just don't know anyone that's going to be buying an S26 Plus when you can get an S26 Ultra for just a couple of hundred more. Like, why would you not want to buy the S26 Ultra? That doesn't make any sense. At this point, you are paying what I think is a premium for an S26 Plus model, which has basically had zero changes in 4 years. I would love to know how many people went and actually ordered this at launch because if you

look at some of the reports, this thing is not doing well. In April, Samsung have produced the amount of units of the S26 Plus being made to just 200,000. And you might think, oh, that's actually quite a lot. But if you compare it to the 1.3 million of the regular S26 and then the 1.5 million of the S26 Ultra, I just don't think that anyone is buying the S26 Plus. I already mentioned it, but one of the reasons is the price. For the base version of the S26 Plus, you can get a Pixel 10 Pro or an iPhone 17 Pro. And you can actually get last year's S25 Ultra for way cheaper than any of that. The Plus models don't have any sort of identity anymore. Not really. It doesn't have the best cameras. It's not the best chipset, and

it's not even interesting because the S25 Edge and the foldables from Samsung exists. It literally has no identity at all. I'm sure at this point you've probably figured out that I don't really understand why this phone exists. Like, it's a bit confusing. I remember the rumors before Unpacked that the Plus would be replaced by an Edge version this year, and that to me makes more sense. At that point, you don't expect the best specs, but people are then buying it because they're happy of the trade-off. Like, you get a slimmer phone that actually feels a little bit different. And the rumors for the S27 are already in full swing. And it's interesting because it kind of backs up

what I'm saying here. It sounds like Samsung will give up on the Plus completely. And what they'll do is add a Pro version into the Galaxy lineup next year. This is something that would be very close to the Galaxy S27 Ultra. And this is something that I've wanted for a long time. The Pro version, what it might do if it happens is ditch the S Pen. And that's something that I think Samsung are looking to do anyway. And everything else would be exactly the same as the Ultra. So it would keep the privacy display and it would just be a little bit smaller and a little bit easier to handle. And that is exactly what I think the Plus model should be, a smaller, more compact version of the

Ultra. And if that S27 Pro does happen and then the S27 Plus is still around, it really makes me worry for that plus version. Besides that camera changing in 2022, the screen getting a bit brighter and the phone being able to handle thermals slightly better. You can say it with me at this point, the phone has barely changed. With a potential Pro model coming, I just can't see things getting better for the Plus. In fact, I think the Plus sticking around actually is the worst thing that Samsung could do because it makes it even more of a confusing buy. The cameras won't get better. They won't add any meaningful upgrades. And I think the phone will basically be the same year after year.

Say we do get that Pro model next year, then where do you even price the S27 Plus? Because at the moment, the S26 Plus is $1099. And then where do you put it? Do you put it above the Pro or the Pro become more expensive and the Plus is cheaper or what? Like that then becomes even more confusing because I just don't know why anyone would pick this up. The Plus now exists in a world where the gap that used to exist doesn't exist anymore. And Samsung know this. It's not a phone for innovation because despite those small changes to the Ultra models over the past few years, all the changes go there. I feel like the Plus is there so Samsung can just release three models year after year. I would

love Samsung to be able to tell me who the Plus model is for because like who do they think is buying this thing? cuz I can't figure it out right now. And to be honest, if you have the Galaxy S22 Plus, um, if you pick up the S26 Plus, you really aren't getting that many changes. But let me know in the comments below because I want to know if any of you actually purchase the S26 Plus and why you would get the Plus model over the Ultra or that base model. So, let me know in the comments below. If you can subscribe to the channel before you head off, I would really appreciate it. And if you do that, then I'll see you in the next one.