Galaxy S26 Ultra Drops to $949 at Best Buy, $450 Below New MSRP
Best Buy cut the Galaxy S26 Ultra to $949, $450 under Samsung's raised $1,399 price. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is also $300 off before Black Friday.
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra now sells for $949 at Best Buy, according to Tom’s Guide. That is $450 less than the phone’s list price, which Samsung raised to $1,399. Amazon matches the $949 price, and Walmart has it at $979.
Tom’s Guide says the phone has hit $949 before, but this is the first time since the MSRP went up. Samsung’s book-style foldable is also cheaper ahead of Black Friday: The Verge reports the Galaxy Z Fold 8 at $1,599.99 at Amazon and Best Buy.
What it means for people shopping for a Samsung flagship
Buyers who passed on the S26 Ultra after the price increase can now get it at the same low price it reached before. The Z Fold 8 discount is $300 off its usual price, and The Verge notes it is only $50 above the lowest price it has tracked for the phone. The foldable came out only a few months ago, which makes the saving larger than usual for such a new device, according to The Verge.
Tom’s Guide also points to the next model. The Galaxy S27 Ultra may arrive in early 2027, and rumors suggest another price increase. Samsung has not confirmed either the timing or the price.
What the Galaxy S26 Ultra includes at $949
The S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch screen with a built-in Privacy Display. When it is turned on, the screen becomes hard to read from the side, so people next to you cannot easily see it. It can be set per app and can hide just the sensitive parts of the screen rather than dimming everything.
The camera system has four lenses:
- a 200MP main camera
- a 50MP ultrawide lens
- a 50MP telephoto lens with 5x zoom
- a second 10MP telephoto lens with 3x zoom, which few phones have
The phone also has a built-in S Pen, a 5,000 mAh battery and 60W wired charging. In Tom’s Guide’s own battery test it lasted 16 hours and 10 minutes. Samsung’s Galaxy AI tools come with it, among them an upgraded Circle to Search, Automated App Actions and a camera feature called Horizon Lock.
How the Galaxy Z Fold 8 deal works
The $1,599.99 price applies to the unlocked 256GB model. The 512GB version costs $200 more at both stores. Best Buy has all three colors in stock, while Amazon is out of the 256GB model in cream, The Verge reports.
This generation of the Fold has a shorter, wider shape that The Verge compares to a passport and to Apple’s iPhone Duo. Its reviewer, Dominic Preston, found the shape easy to hold after a short time. The inner screen uses a 4:3 ratio, the same as most iPads, which suits reading and video.
Battery capacity is 4,800mAh, and in The Verge’s testing the phone still had 40 percent left after a full day. The trade-offs are a missing telephoto camera, which Samsung reserves for the more expensive Z Fold 8 Ultra, and an IP48 rating, so sand and dust remain a risk at the beach.
Where prices stand before Black Friday
Both discounts are live now, ahead of Black Friday itself. Retailers have not said how long the prices will last, and stock of some colors and storage sizes is already limited.
Sources: Tom's Guide, The Verge
