Samsung’s Galaxy S27 lineup looks like a disaster

That’s true, that means we’ll have four mainline Galaxy S phones released in early 2027 – the Galaxy S27, Galaxy S27 Plus, Galaxy S27 Pro, and Galaxy S27 Ultra. The new Pro phone is expected to have many of the specs/features of the Ultra but will be available at a lower price.

At first, the Galaxy S27 Pro seems like a welcome addition to the Galaxy S family. But the more I think about it, the more worried I become that this could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Currently, details on the Galaxy S27 Pro are quite limited. The report claims that the S27 Pro will be positioned as a new high-end option in the Galaxy S series. It will be above the S27 and S27 Plus, but below the S27 Ultra.

The Pro is expected to share many of the Ultra’s specifications (more than the base model and currently the Plus), including the new privacy display introduced on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, at least one feature will remain exclusive to the S27 Ultra: the S Pen – a feature you obviously won’t find on the S27 Pro.

If this sounds familiar to you, that’s because Samsung was rumored to be making a Galaxy S26 Pro last year. according to Android AuthorityAccording to sources, Samsung originally intended for this year’s Galaxy S family to include The Galaxy S26 Pro, S26 Edge, and S26 Ultra. However, those plans were canceled in favor of the standard S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra models that we got instead.

It appears that the Pro is back on the table for 2027, but rather than replacing existing Galaxy S phones, it’s joining the ranks to increase the number of mainline Galaxy S handsets from three to four. And this is where I start to worry.

If the S27 Pro will exist alongside and above the S27 and S27 Plus, it will immediately limit the types of upgrades we can reasonably expect for the base and Plus models next year. And that’s a problem, because as I found in my Galaxy S26/S26 Plus review, Samsung’s base and Plus phones are hanging on by a thread – specs have remained steadfastly stagnant and prices are only rising.

Then we have the S27 Pro. It will likely have better cameras, battery life, charging speeds, and RAM/storage options than the S27 and S27 Plus. And, disappointingly, it will reportedly come with Samsung’s Privacy Display, whereas the S27 and S27 Plus will not.

Finally, there’s the S27 Ultra. As it sounds, the Ultra and Pro will have a lot in common – except for the S Pen and potentially a few other minor spec differences. The Ultra will still be the best Samsung has to offer, but it will now have to justify its existence with a new Pro model that will likely share many of the same capabilities.

But how will Samsung do this? Will the Pro have a smaller display while the Ultra will remain larger? Will the Pro feature specs be similar to today’s Galaxy S26 Ultra, while the S27 Ultra will eventually get even better cameras, battery tech, etc.?

No matter how Samsung decides to go about this, adding the Pro without addressing the Galaxy S lineup as a whole is the real problem here. The S27 and S27 Plus are the two phones that objectively need the most work, but introducing the S27 Pro to the lineup naturally prevents Samsung from giving those models the upgrades they desperately need. The deadline has also passed for a specification upgrade to the Ultra, but how will Samsung balance this while adding a second high-end phone to the mix?

Not only does this seem like a branding and strategic nightmare, but it will make things even worse where it really matters to people: pricing.

We have just seen Samsung increase prices dramatically with the S26 series. Even with minimal upgrades across the board, all three phones became more expensive – and in some cases significantly more expensive. As it stands, we have:

• Galaxy S26 starts at $900
• Galaxy S26 Plus starts at $1,100
• Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,300

Now, try to imagine what the price of the Galaxy S27 would look like. Samsung has increased the starting prices of the S26 and S26 Plus this year, so we can (hopefully) expect them to remain the same. Will the same be true for the S27 Ultra? I don’t think so.

With the S27 Pro entering the mix, Samsung will need to price it between the S27 Plus and the S27 Ultra. Let’s say Samsung settles for the S27 Pro at $1,200. In what world would one be? No Pay an extra $100 for the Pro compared to the potentially stable Plus? And if the S27 Ultra stays at $1,300, does the $100 difference between it and the Pro really make sense when there’s $200 between the baseline and Plus phones?

This seems more likely. The S27 and S27 Plus will be priced at $900 and $1,100 respectively. The S27 Pro will be priced starting at $1,300 and the S27 Ultra will be priced starting at $1,400. This gives Samsung the same price difference between S27 -> S27 Plus and S27 Plus -> S27 Pro.

Do you like it? I didn’t think so.

I’m particularly concerned that we know this four-phone strategy doesn’t work. Last year, Samsung tried it with the S25, S25 Plus, S25 Edge, and S25 Ultra. The Edge’s slim design was certainly unique, but it didn’t meaningfully change the Galaxy S series at all – it was just another option, and one that most people ignored.

Not only could the S27 Pro repeat that mistake, but it’s also set to raise the starting price of the Ultra and stifle the development of the S27 and S27 Plus at the same time. The S27 Pro is the same Band-Aid strategy as the S25 Edge, except it may prove even more damaging.

The good news is that there’s a lot of time between now and the release of the Galaxy S27 series, and there’s still a lot we don’t know about next year’s Samsung phones. But if Samsung is really going down this path, then it feels wrong.