The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to arrive with Qualcomm’s next flagship chip—the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2—according to leaked firmware files. It will also ship with One UI 8.5 based on Android 16 right out of the box.

This lines up with a recent report from tipster Ice Universe which highlighted Samsung’s new strategy. Under this approach foldable phones receive the newest One UI version first and then it gets refined for the Galaxy S series.

The leaked firmware was found on Samsung’s own server suggesting the company is already testing One UI 8.5 for the S26 lineup.

The firmware includes the serial number PMK8850 which likely belongs to Snapdragon’s next-gen chip. For comparison the Galaxy S25 Ultra used the Snapdragon 8 Elite which had the 8750 serial number. So it’s quite likely that the S26 Ultra will continue using Qualcomm’s top-tier chipset.

However not all models in the Galaxy S26 series may use Snapdragon. The regular Galaxy S26 and S26+ are expected to feature Samsung’s own Exynos 2600 processor. This chip is said to offer strong CPU and GPU performance. Another report claims that Samsung has also found a way to improve the Exynos 2600’s cooling which could make it more reliable.

Samsung is reportedly changing its strategy for software updates. Going forward, the company will give priority to its foldable phones, like the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip series, when rolling out major One UI updates.

This shift became clear when Samsung launched One UI 8 — based on Android 16 — with the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, even though Android 16 hasn’t been officially released yet. Many thought this was just a one-time surprise, but it now seems to be part of a new update policy.

According to popular tipster Ice Universe, Samsung will now launch its latest foldables with the newest Android versions and updated One UI features. Meanwhile, its Galaxy S series will receive incremental updates, rather than being the first to get new software.

Although the Galaxy S phones may not get updates first, Samsung is expected to provide them with more stable and refined versions of the software. This means that while foldables will test out new UI designs, AI tools, and software improvements first, Galaxy S devices will get a more polished and smoother experience later on.

Samsung is getting ready to launch the Galaxy A07, the expected successor to last year’s Galaxy A06. If Samsung sticks to its usual release cycle, we can expect the A07 to arrive sometime next month.

Revealed in Google Play Console

The Galaxy A07 has now appeared in the Google Play Console, confirming several of its main specifications and also giving us our first official image of the phone.

Key Features

According to the listing, the Galaxy A07 will come with:

• MediaTek Helio G99 processor
• 6GB of RAM
• 720×1600 pixel screen resolution
• Android 15 out of the box

The design shows a waterdrop notch for the front camera and a new oval-shaped camera island on the back — similar to Samsung’s newer models, but different from the flagship S series which uses individual camera rings.

Galaxy M07 May Be a Rebrand

Interestingly, the listing also hints that the upcoming Galaxy M07 might just be a rebranded version of the A07. The model numbers SM-A075 for the A07 and SM-M075 for the M07 suggest that the hardware could be nearly identical.

What’s Next?

So far, no other specs have been revealed, but more information is expected to come soon as Samsung prepares for launch. Stay tuned for updates.