Samsung Electronics launched its third-generation artificial intelligence smartphone, the Galaxy S26 series, ushering in the era of agentic AI phones.
The company aims to widen its lead over Apple and other competitors by reintroducing its proprietary application processor to flagship models after two years and adding Perplexity's voice assistant.
Samsung unveiled three models—the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra—at an event in San Francisco on January 25.
The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus feature the company's in-house developed "Exynos 2600" processor. This marks the first time an Exynos chip has powered Samsung's flagship smartphones since 2023.
The new series introduces Perplexity as an AI agent. Users can choose their preferred assistant among Bixby, Google Gemini, and Perplexity to execute voice commands.
"The Galaxy S26 series is a product that allows anyone to easily and intuitively utilize AI based on powerful hardware," said Roh Tae-moon, President of Samsung Electronics' Device Experience (DX) Division.
Prices range from 1,254,000 won to 2,545,400 won depending on the model. Excluding the 1TB Ultra variant, this marks the first time a Galaxy flagship has exceeded the 2 million won threshold.