Samsung Galaxy S26 vs Samsung Galaxy S8

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Galaxy S26 compared with Galaxy S8

	SamsungGalaxy S26	SamsungGalaxy S8
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	April 2017
Display
Screen size
Screen size	6.3″	5.8″
Resolution
Resolution	2340 × 1080	2960 × 1440 (better)
Sharpness
Sharpness	409 pixels per inch	568 pixels per inch (better)
Panel
Panel	LTPO OLED	OLED
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	120 Hz (better)	60 Hz
Peak brightness
Peak brightness	2,600 nits	–
Display type
Display type	Dynamic AMOLED 2X, FHD+, 16M colours; 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate (1–120 Hz)	Infinity Display, dual edge Super AMOLED, Quad HD+ (2,960 × 1,440), 18.5:9, 16M colours; Mobile HDR Premium certified
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	570 ppi
Always-on display
Always-on display	–	Always-on display
Screen protection
Screen protection	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2	Corning Gorilla Glass 5 front and back
Display features
Display features	Vision booster; mDNIe image processing	–
Performance
Chip
Chip	Exynos 2600	Exynos 8895
Memory
Memory	12 GB (better)	4 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB, 512 GB (better)	64 GB
CPU
CPU	Deca-core (3.8 GHz, 3.26 GHz, 2.76 GHz)	64-bit, 10 nm, octa-core (quad 2.3 GHz + quad 1.7 GHz) in the UK; 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM
GPU
GPU	–	Mali-G71 MP20
Storage type
Storage type	–	64 GB UFS 2.1 (52.3 GB available); microSD card slot up to 256 GB
Cooling
Cooling	Redesigned Vapor Chamber with tailored thermal interface material; Samsung claims 29% better thermal performance than the Galaxy S25 series	–
Cameras
Main camera
Main camera	50 MP (better)	12 MP
Ultra wide camera
Ultra wide camera	12 MP	None
Telephoto camera
Telephoto camera	10 MP	None
Optical zoom
Optical zoom	3× (better)	None
Front camera
Front camera	12 MP (better)	8 MP
Main camera
Main camera	50 MP wide, F1.8	Dual Pixel 12 MP, F1.7, OIS
Ultra wide camera
Ultra wide camera	12 MP, F2.2	–
Telephoto camera
Telephoto camera	10 MP, F2.4, 3x optical zoom	–
Front camera
Front camera	12 MP, F2.2, autofocus	8 MP, autofocus, F1.7
Zoom
Zoom	3x optical zoom; 2x optical-quality zoom (Adaptive Pixel sensor); digital zoom up to 30x	–
Video recording
Video recording	Up to 8K (7680 × 4320) at 30 fps; slow motion at 240 fps (FHD) and 120 fps (FHD and UHD)	UHD 4K (3,840 × 2,160) at 30 fps
Camera features
Camera features	Nightography video; Super Steady with Horizontal Lock	–
Battery and charging
Battery
Battery	4,300 mAh (better)	3,000 mAh
Video playback (maker's claim)
Video playback (maker's claim)	Up to 30 hours	Up to 16 hours
Wired charging
Wired charging	Up to 25 W	–
Wireless charging
Wireless charging	Yes (wattage not published)	Yes (wattage not published)
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Rated (minimum) capacity 4,175 mAh; at least 1,200 charge cycles; EU energy class A	Internet use up to 11 hours (3G), 12 hours (LTE) or 14 hours (Wi-Fi); audio playback up to 44 hours (67 hours with Always On Display off); talk time up to 20 hours (3G)
Wired charging
Wired charging	Up to 55% in around 30 minutes with a 25 W adapter and 3 A USB-C cable (adapter sold separately); QC2.0 and AFC PD compatible	Fast wired charging over USB-C
Wireless charging
Wireless charging	Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 (WPC); Samsung doesn't state the wattage	Fast wireless charging (WPC and AirFuel)
Charges other devices
Charges other devices	Wireless PowerShare	–
Connectivity
Satellite messaging
Satellite messaging	Yes	–
Mobile network
Mobile network	5G Sub6 (FDD, TDD, SDL); 4G LTE (FDD, TDD); 3G WCDMA; 2G GSM	LTE Cat 16, gigabit LTE ready
SIM
SIM	Two nano-SIMs, nano-SIM and eSIM, or dual eSIM	Nano-SIM; the SIM tray also holds the microSD card
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be), 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz, EHT320, MIMO, 4096-QAM	Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, 1024-QAM
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.4	Bluetooth 5.0 (LE up to 2 Mbps); ANT+
NFC
NFC	Yes	Yes, and MST for Samsung Pay
Satellite features
Satellite features	Works with O2 Satellite in the UK (texts, supported apps, maps and location sharing where O2 has no signal; not emergency calls); satellite texting and emergency SOS with Verizon in the US	–
USB
USB	USB Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 1	USB Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 1; 3.5 mm headphone jack
Positioning
Positioning	GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS	GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou
Design
Type
Type	Standard	Standard
Weight
Weight	167 g	155 g (better)
Thickness
Thickness	7.2 mm (better)	8 mm
Height × width
Height × width	149.6 × 71.7 mm	148.9 × 68.1 mm
Water and dust resistance
Water and dust resistance	IP68	IP68
Materials
Materials	Armor Aluminum frame; Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 back	Gorilla Glass 5 front and back with an aluminium frame
Colours
Colours	Cobalt Violet, White, Black, Sky Blue; Pink Gold and Silver Shadow (Samsung.com only)	Midnight Black and Orchid Grey at UK launch; Coral Blue, Arctic Silver and Rose Pink later in the UK; Maple Gold and Burgundy Red in other markets
Buttons
Buttons	–	Bixby button
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	IP68, dust-tight and tested for submersion in up to 1.5 m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes	IP68
Biometrics
Biometrics	Fingerprint sensor	Iris scanner, fingerprint sensor (rear), face recognition
Sensors
Sensors	Accelerometer, barometer, fingerprint sensor, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, Hall sensor, light sensor, proximity sensor	Accelerometer, barometer, fingerprint, gyro, geomagnetic, Hall, heart rate, iris, pressure, proximity, RGB light
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers	–
Software
Operating system
Operating system	Android	Android
Software at launch
Software at launch	One UI 8.5 (Android 16)	Android 7.0 (Nougat)
Software updates
Software updates	Security updates until 28 February 2033 (UK)	–
AI features
AI features	Galaxy AI, including Now Nudge, Now Brief, Photo Assist and Creative Studio; a choice of agents including Bixby, Gemini and Perplexity	Bixby; Samsung DeX