Samsung Galaxy A26 review

Familiar triple-camera setup

The Galaxy A26 camera hardware remains unchanged from the Galaxy A25 last year - 50MP main camera joined by a small 8MP ultrawide unit and even smaller 2MP dedicated macro shooter. The selfie is also familiar with 13MP resolution.

• Wide (main): 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)JN1, f/1.8, 27mm, 1/2.76", 0.64µm, PDAF, OIS; 2160p@30fps
• Ultra wide angle: 8 MP Samsung ISOCELL (S5K)4HA, f/2.2, 120-degree, 1/4", 1.12µm, fixed focus; 1080p@30fps
• Macro: 2 MP GalaxyCore GC02M1, f/2.4, fixed focus.
• Front camera: 13 MP Hynix Hi-1339, f/2.2, 1/3.06", 1.12µm, fixed focus; 1080p@30fps

Daylight photos

Main camera

The daylight photos taken with the main camera leave more to be desired. Under perfect lighting conditions, you can get decent-looking shots, but for the most part, we've seen better. Sharpness and detail deteriorate fast when you take the phone indoors, and objects in the shadows look somewhat muddy and grainy. On the other hand, color reproduction is on point and so is HDR.

Main camera photos

We also noticed some focusing issues while going through our shots. On a few occassions, we experienced focus hunting while out in the field as well.

Here are some pictures taken in the dedicated 50MP mode. We can't say they are better overall, but slightly more detailed.

50MP main camera photos

And some portraits too.

Portraits: Photo mode • Portrait mode

2x crop zoom

Unsurprisingly, the 2x zoom shots are considerably softer, noisier, and less detailed. That's expected from a phone in this price bracket with a small sensor.

2x crop zoom photos

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide photos are par for the course, considering the price tag and the usual ultrawide capabilities in this class. The shots are somewhat soft, but we like the colors, contrast and close objects seem to be decently sharp. Dynamic range isn't wide, but the HDR does a good job in normal daylight conditions.

Ultrawide camera photos

Macro camera

The dedicated macro camera is nothing to write home about. It's a basic 2MP sensor that has been used for years now, and it has plenty of limitations - fixed focus, low resolution, and struggles to deliver decent quality in unfavorable lighting conditions. Don't expect much contrast and fine detail.

Macro camera photos

Selfies

The selfies are excellent. They are pretty colorful, detailed, and sharp. Even in more challenging lighting conditions, the photos turned out pretty well. We can even say that the handset punches above its class in this regard.

Selfies

Low-light photos

Main camera

Unlike some of the Galaxy phones we've tested recently, the Galaxy A26 seems to like using the camera Night mode. The main camera triggers the dedicated Night mode more often than not, brightening the shadows and reducing the noise.

Low-light main camera photos: Auto Night mode • Night mode

Still, we can't say we are happy with the results. The device generally takes soft, noisy photos with completely messed-up colors and color temperature. Sure, it's a budget device, but we've seen much better from competitors.

2x crop zoom

The main camera's drawbacks become even more obvious once you tap the 2x zoom toggle. After the unsatisfactory 2x photos in daylight, we didn't have our hopes high at night.

Low-light 2x crop zoom photos: Auto Night mode • Night mode

Ultrawide camera

With or without Night mode, the ultrawide camera takes extremely grainy photos with not much fine detail. Colors are once again off, but not as much as on the main camera, for some reason.

Low-light ultrawide photos: Auto Night mode • Night mode

Video recording

The Galaxy A26 can record 4K videos at up to 30fps using its main camera, but caps at 1080p@30fps when recording with the ultrawide and selfie cameras. EIS is available only in 1080p mode. Take a look at the last video on the playlist to see how shaky the 4K video gets without EIS.

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

The main camera footage seems soft for 4K resolution and tends to go for lower exposure as shadows look oddly thick. Colors, contrast and dynamic range, on the other hand, seem on point. Too bad there's no stabilization in 4K resolution.

The nighttime footage with the main cam seems pretty good. There's limited amount of noise, and subjects are decently sharp.

The ultrawide 1080p video isn't amazing, but it's pretty much what we expected. It's rather soft and lacks fine detail, but dynamic range, colors and contrast are good.