Should you buy the Galaxy S25 now or wait for the Galaxy S26?

There’s never been a better time to buy one of Samsung’s Galaxy S25 models, at least when it comes to price. But by that same token, there’s never been a worse time to get Samsung’s current flagships if you’re hoping to have the latest and greatest hardware from the phone maker.

Call it the phone buyer’s paradox. Right now, every Galaxy S25 model can be had for a big discount. In most cases, the prices we’re seeing from retailers are the lowest we’ve seen for this current crop of Samsung phones.

But there’s a reason the Galaxy S25 models are priced to move. Very shortly, they will have to move in order to make way for new Galaxy S26 phones. Given Samsung’s recent track record, we would have expected a Galaxy Unpacked event to happen this month, but the latest rumors point to a Galaxy S26 announcement in late February.

You may like

Nevertheless, the Galaxy S26 models will be here before you know it. And that revives the age-old question that dogs phone shoppers — buy the new model now at a discount or wait for the newer version and its promised improvements?

Galaxy S25: The current deals

You can currently buy the base model Galaxy S25 for $649 at Amazon. This $150 price cut from the usual starting price puts the S25’s cost into Galaxy S25 FE territory — the cheaper, more scaled-back version of Samsung’s flagship. It also happens to be the lowest price I’ve seen for an unlocked S25 where you didn’t have to trade in a device or commit to a specific carrier.

The Galaxy S25 Plus and Galaxy S25 Ultra are seeing record price drops at Amazon, too. You can get an S25 Plus for $100 off its usual price, matching the all-time low of $899 for the 6.7-inch model, while Amazon has cut roughly $250 off the price of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which currently costs $1,048.

Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.

Those prices are appealing if you’re looking for an unlocked model, but if you don’t mind activating your new phone with a carrier, Best Buy can offer even lower prices. Take the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which sells for $1,049 unlocked at Best Buy. Connect the phone to AT&T or Verizon when you check out, though, and you can save an additional $100, bringing your total cost to $949.

Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S26: Which phone should you get?

If you stipulate that the current Galaxy S25 lineup makes up the best Samsung phones you can buy — and you should — the choice of buying now versus waiting another month or so for the Galaxy S26 really comes down to the rumored changes to the upcoming devices and how much they appeal to you.

A Galaxy S26 vs. Galaxy S25 comparison suggests modest changes for the new models, especially for the standard and Plus phones in Samsung’s lineup. The biggest rumored changes to the Galaxy S26 are likely to center around the chipset Samsung uses and the battery size.

You may like

We’re expecting a bigger battery in the Galaxy S26 compared to the Galaxy S25 — 4,300 mAh vs. 4,000 mAh, according to specs leaks. The chipset is less certain: you’d expect Samsung’s new phones to feature a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, since that’s Qualcomm’s current best-in-class silicon, but persistent rumors have some Galaxy S26 models turning to an Exynos 2600. Whether this Samsung-designed chip packs the same punch as the newest Snapdragon is unclear at this point.

As with the Galaxy S26, the Galaxy S26 Plus doesn’t sound like much of a departure from its predecessor. That’s partly because it’s reportedly a late addition to this year’s Samsung lineup as the phone maker was originally planning to replace the Plus with a Galaxy S26 Edge. Those plans are rumored to be on hold, though.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra figures to be a much bigger improvement over the current Galaxy S25 Ultra, with Samsung saving its highest-profile changes for its most important flagship. Besides boosts to both the processor and battery, the S26 Ultra is in line to receive more substantial changes to its cameras than the rest of the S26 lineup. The 200MP main camera is tipped to feature a wider aperture for better low-light photos and we could also see a higher-resolution sensor for the 3x telephoto lens.

The wild card, as always, involves whatever Galaxy AI improvements Samsung is cooking up and whether those updates will eventually filter down to existing models like the S25 series. That said, features like the Now Brief and cross-app actions are available on the Galaxy S25 models, so you can be assured of a fairly up-to-date software experience even if you don’t hold out for a newer phone.

Upgrade now or wait — what I would do?

I’m also taking into consideration talk of a price hike when I lean toward buying a Galaxy S25 or Galaxy S25 Plus now. We don’t know what Samsung plans to charge, but rumors suggests S26 prices going up in some markets. To me, it’s better to have the lower-cost device in hand than hope that future unannounced deals wipe out the impact of any potential price hike. And the fact that Samsung supports its current flagship phones with seven years of updates means my new purchase of an older model is still somewhat future-proof.

The calculus changes for people considering a Galaxy S26 Ultra. I’m guessing that if you prefer the Ultra to other models, price is less of a consideration compared to the prospect of having the very best hardware in your hand. In that case, it’s probably best to hold off your purchase for another month, even if it means passing on between $250 and $350 in discounts based on current Galaxy S25 Ultra deals.

Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.

More from Tom’s Guide