The best Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus plans in Australia for March 2026

Samsung officially unveiled the much anticipated Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus on February 26, 2026 with some fresh upgrades over the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus.

While it’s fair to say the Galaxy S26 Ultra has stolen many of the headlines once again this year, there’s still much to love with the rest of the Galaxy S26 range. The base model Galaxy S26, for example, sports a slightly larger 6.3-inch screen over its predecessor (6.2 inches), and its storage options now start at 256GB, double from the 128GB that the S25 started with. The battery also gets a boost to 4,300mAh, up from 4,000mAh.

The larger-screened Galaxy S26 Plus, meanwhile, retains the 6.7-inch display and 4,900mAh battery from its predecessor, and gets Samsung’s new Exynos 2600 chipset, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip reserved for the top-tier S26 Ultra. While the battery capacity is the same, the S26 Plus can be charged wirelessly at 20W, compared to the S25 Plus’ slower 15W wireless charging.

If you’re looking to buy outright, the range is available at retailers like Amazon, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys, with the first two offering trade-in options. Buying direct from Samsung will also let you pay in instalments of up to 24 months, and trade-ins are also available (including non-Samsung products). When paired with one of our best SIM-only plans, buying outright will be the best bang-for-buck option.

These are flagship phones, so the base model Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus won’t fit in our best cheap phones list. It also doesn’t help that both handsets are more expensive than the S25 lineup, with the base model S26 starting from AU$1,549 (up from the S25’s AU$1,399) and the S26 Plus from AU$1,849 (vs the S25 Plus’s starting price of AU$1,699). This would make paying in monthly instalments an attractive option for some.

While the retailers have finished their pre-order specials, Australia’s big three telcos still have some active deals of up to AU$500 off the handset price for the Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus (as well as the Galaxy S26 Ultra), with some also coinciding with existing promotions.

With so many options available to score a brand new upgrade, fInding the best plan for these new handsets may not be the most straightforward process, so we’ve done the hard work for you. Take a look at our picks for the best phone plans for the Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus below:

• Samsung: pay in instalments of up to 24 months through Samsung financing; also save up to AU$865 when you trade in your old device
• JB Hi-Fi: trade in your old tech for a JB Hi-Fi gift card to be used on a Galaxy S26 series handset
• The Good Guys: Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus available in 256GB and 512GB
• Amazon: Same day delivery with the world’s biggest retailer

Unfortunately, both the headline-grabbing Privacy Display and the gimbal-like horizontal lock video mode are only exclusive to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, so if you’re specifically looking for those features, you can check out the best Galaxy S26 Ultra plans.