When Samsung released the Galaxy A25 in December 2023, seven months after the A24, the new phone felt boring and almost like a pointless sequel. It looked the same and shared most of its specs with its predecessor. Thankfully, Samsung seems to have learned from its mistake, and the new Galaxy A26 feels like it has a reason to exist.

In fact, the Galaxy A26 brings quite a few notable upgrades over the Galaxy A25. Samsung managed to keep the boredom out of the equation this time and gave the Galaxy A26 a sense of belonging in the 2025 budget lineup. Here's how it did it:

• A new design language with a prominent camera island design.
• Plastic back panel replaced by Gorilla Glass Victus+.
• The Galaxy A26 is thinner, measuring 7.7mm. The A26 had an 8.3mm profile.
• For the first time in the series, the Galaxy A26 boasts an IP67 dust and water resistance rating.
• A larger 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display (up from a 6.5-inch panel).
• The global Galaxy A26 features the Exynos 1380 chip instead of an Exynos 1280.
• More RAM for everybody. The Galaxy A26 starts at 6GB instead of 4GB.
• The microSD slot can now read 2TB cards, up from 1TB.
• The Galaxy A26 ships with One UI 7.0 and will receive six (up from four) OS upgrades.

All in all, the Galaxy A26 feels like a worthy sequel and offers plenty of reasons for an upgrade if you own an older model.

There is, however, one caveat. Even though the Galaxy A26 has received many upgrades in build quality, hardware, and firmware support, it lacks one feature available on previous A2x phones.

Beware the missing audio port

Indeed, the Galaxy A26 is the first in the A2x series to ditch the 3.5mm headphone port. If you use wired headphones with your current Galaxy A2x phone, you'll have to find a compatible USB-C-3.5mm dongle or switch to wireless earbuds once you upgrade to the Galaxy A26.

This could be a deal breaker for some users, but it is unavoidable. Samsung has removed the headphone jack from pricier phones and has been moving toward a 3.5mm-free future for the past few years.

Now, the Galaxy A26 is catching up with its more expensive siblings in a way that won't make everyone happy. Either way, the Galaxy A26 is far from boring.

Samsung will release the Galaxy A26 this month. The phone will debut for $299 in the USA, €369 in Europe, and £299 in the UK. Trade-in offers will differ by market.

The post How the Galaxy A26 keeps boredom out of the equation appeared first on SamMobile.