Samsung Galaxy S26 tipped for major iPhone-challenging payment upgrade

By John McCann Published August 4, 2025

What’s happened: A fresh report from Korea claims the Samsung Galaxy S26 – the next flagship smartphone we expect Samsung to launch – will arrive with enhanced NFC connectivity for improved contactless payments.

This is important because: As manufacturers continue to try and find ways to tempt customers to their brand, there’s a need to offer feature parity with rivals, as part of making a potential switch even easier.

Why should I care? While the addition of an NFC antenna might not seem like major news, it’s these small quality of life upgrades which can make all the difference when it comes to your day-to-day satisfaction with your tech.

Okay, what’s next? This is a very early Galaxy S26 rumor, as we don’t expect Samsung’s next flagship smartphone series to launch until January 2026 at the earliest. The S25 series arrived in January this year. There’s at least five months between now and a possible S26 introduction, and a lot can change in that time, so take this report with a pinch of salt.