Amazon Cuts the S26 Ultra to $979 After Samsung’s Hike

Amazon is selling the Galaxy S26 Ultra for $979 during Prime Big Deal Days, five days after Samsung lifted that phone’s U.S. list price to $1,399.99. The 48-hour sale runs through 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 7, and the loudest phone cuts sit beside last-gen Sony headphones at $198.

The October event is doing what these sales always do, wrapping a membership gate around a two-day clock. The twist this year is the calendar. Samsung moved the S26 stickers on October 1. Google nudged the Pixel 10a a day later. Then Amazon put the new lists on sale.

Samsung Raised the S26 Sticker on October 1

Samsung’s U.S. store raised every main Galaxy S26 configuration on October 1, about seven months after the phones went on sale in March. The 256GB S26 moved from $899.99 to $999.99. The 256GB S26 Plus moved from $1,099.99 to $1,199.99. The 256GB Ultra moved from $1,299.99 to $1,399.99. The 1TB Ultra took a $200 jump, from $1,799.99 to $1,999.99.

Memory chips are the reason the industry is using. DRAM and NAND have been pulled into AI data-center builds, and phone makers are paying more for the same parts. Google hardware vice president Shakil Barkat had already cited Morgan Stanley figures that put RAM at $12 a gigabyte, up from $2.80. Samsung’s hike landed five days before Prime Big Deal Days opened at 12:01 a.m. PDT on October 6.

FROM THE HIKE TO THE SALE

1. February 2026: Samsung sets S26 launch prices at Unpacked, with the Ultra starting at $1,299.99.
2. March 2026: U.S. sales of the S26 family begin at those launch prices.
3. October 1, 2026: Samsung raises U.S. lists by $100 on most S26 models and by $200 on the 1TB Ultra.
4. October 6, 2026: Amazon opens Prime Big Deal Days and sells the 256GB Ultra at $979.

Amazon framed the window as 48 hours of exclusive deals across more than 35 categories, with new drops at midnight, 8 a.m., and 1 p.m. PDT. Carmen Nestares, vice president of North America Marketing and Prime Tech, said the sale is there so members can handle fall hosting, decorating, and holiday gifting while they save. The summer event already ran as a four-day June Prime Day, twice as long as this October window.

What $979 on the Galaxy S26 Ultra Beats

Against Samsung’s October 1 list, the Ultra at $979 is $420.99 cheaper. Against the March launch price of $1,299.99, it is $320.99 cheaper. That is the whole trick. The “was $1,399” row is five days old, and Amazon is still under the price Samsung charged all spring and summer.

The rest of the family follows the same pattern. The base S26 is $724.99, which is $275 under the new $999.99 list and $175 under the $899.99 launch price. The S26 Plus is $824.99, which is $375 under the post-hike $1,199.99 list and $275 under the $1,099.99 launch price. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy and 256GB storage are the configurations in the Amazon cuts.

S26 PRICES AGAINST THE OCTOBER 1 HIKE

Samsung is not standing still on its own site. The Ultra buy page was still offering up to $720 in trade-in credit and $200 off without a trade-in. Even with that $200, Amazon’s $979 cash price is the lower unlocked number if you are not handing in a phone.

Pixel 11 Lands $150 Over a Newly Priced 10a

Google’s August Pixel 11 launch already carried a $100 bump over the previous generation, with base storage starting at 256GB and the 128GB tier gone. The Pixel 11 opened at $899, the Pixel 11 Pro at $1,099, and the Pixel 11 Pro XL at $1,299. Amazon now has the base Pixel 11 at $749, $150 off that launch number. The Pro is $250 off, which puts it at $849. The Pro XL is $999, a $300 cut, in Olive and Canyon.

The comparison shoppers will make is not last year’s Pixel. It is this year’s 10a. Google raised the Pixel 10a from $499 to $599 around October 2, a day after Samsung’s S26 move, and the new $599 tag is live on the Google Store, Amazon, and Best Buy. A current flagship at $749 is only $150 above a seven-month-old A-series phone that just got more expensive. That gap is why the $749 Pixel 11 looks like the cleaner buy on the Google side of this sale.

The hardware on the 10a did not change with the price. It still runs a Tensor G4, two generations behind the Pixel 11 silicon. Google did not publish a fresh explanation for the 10a increase. The timing, one day after Samsung’s S26 lists moved, is the part that is hard to miss.

Foldables Finally Take a First Real Cut

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra are a different case. They were not part of the October 1 S26 hike. Samsung unveiled them on July 22, priced the wider Fold 8 at $1,899.99 and the Ultra at $2,099.99, and put them on sale August 7. Amazon now has the Fold 8 at $1,549, which is $350.99 under launch, and the Fold 8 Ultra at $1,699, which is $400.99 under launch.

Those are the first deep public cuts on phones that have been in stores for about two months. The Ultra launched $100 above the prior generation. A $400.99 Amazon cut erases that hike and then some. The Fold 8 is the wider, passport-style book; the Ultra is the camera-led model with a 200MP main sensor. If the S26 math is a sticker correction, the foldable math is a normal post-launch slide, just faster than Samsung usually allows on a $2,099.99 device.

Anyone shopping both families should keep the dates straight. The S26 phones have been in the market since March and got more expensive on October 1. The foldables have been in the market since August and got cheaper this week. Same logo, two different price stories.

The XM5 at $198 Makes the XM6 Look Steep

Headphones are where the floor is honest. The Sony WH-1000XM6, Sony’s current flagship, is $378 from a $459.99 list, an $81.99 cut that price trackers call the lowest the pair has been. The last-gen WH-1000XM5 is $198 from $399.99, a $201.99 cut that Amazon tags as 50% off and the lowest in a year. The XM6 still costs $180 more than the XM5 at these sale prices.

SONY’S TWO FLAGSHIPS AT THEIR FLOOR

Noise cancelling on this class of headset ages slowly, which is why $198 is the number that should stop a shopper who does not need the newer mics and processor. The XM6 is the all-time low on a $459.99 product. The XM5 is half price on a product that was the flagship two cycles ago. Those are not the same kind of deal.

Earbuds follow the same split. Apple AirPods Pro 3 are $179 from $249, a $70 cut that Amazon’s own recap lists as up to 28% off, and they sit about $10 above their all-time low. Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds are $135 with a claimed 28 hours of battery and adaptive ANC. Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are $179 with a claimed 45 hours, helped by the earhook. Last-gen and mid-tier audio is doing more work than the new Sony cans at $378.

Amazon’s 165-Deal List Leads With Cameras

Amazon’s own recap of the event, updated through October 6, put 165 deals on the page and led with an Arlo indoor camera at up to 64% off and Calvin Klein boxer briefs at up to 66% off. Tech on that list is TVs, Fire tablets, Echo speakers, and AirPods Pro 3 at up to 28% off. The Galaxy S26 Ultra at $979 is a deal-blog headline. It is not how Amazon chose to open its own roundup.

That mismatch is useful. The company is selling a two-day holiday-season kickoff, with Halloween kits from $5, grocery add-ons, and three daily drops that it says reach 55% off or more. Flagship phones are in the mix because Samsung and Google handed Amazon fresh list prices to slash. They are not the merchandise Amazon is using to define the event.

HOME GEAR THAT CLEARS A SIMPLE PRICE TEST

• Roborock Q10 S5+: $279, rated 10,000Pa, aimed at smaller rooms and apartments.
• Anker Prime 3-in-1: $132 for a stand that charges a phone, a watch, and earbuds together.
• Google Nest Doorbell (Battery): $169, built for renters who cannot wire a chime.
• ECOVACS Goat O1000: $630, nearly a third off a robot mower, if the lawn is the project.

Those four will not trend like an Ultra under $1,000. They also do not depend on a list price that moved on October 1. If the test is “cheaper than the number on the box last month,” this is the quieter pile.

Prime Membership Is Still the Product Being Sold

None of the member prices run without Prime. Amazon is charging $14.99 a month or $139 a year, with a 30-day trial for people who qualify. Young adults 18 to 24 and college students can pay $7.49 a month or $69 a year after a six-month $0 trial. Prime Access for qualifying government-assistance customers is $6.99 a month after 30 days. The sale is live for Prime members in 22 countries, though dates shift by market.

That gate is the business. In September 2025 the Federal Trade Commission announced a $2.5 billion settlement over Prime sign-up and cancellation practices, with a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds aimed at about 35 million people. The order required a clear way to decline Prime and a cancellation path that uses the same method as sign-up.

The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription.

Andrew N. Ferguson, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission

A year later the October sale still works as a two-day reason to be in the club. Alexa for Shopping can set deal alerts and auto-buy at a target price, and product pages now expose up to 365 days of Price History. That chart is the cleanest way to read a $979 Ultra next to a sticker Samsung changed on October 1.

The clock runs to 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 7, which is 2:59 a.m. EDT on October 8. After that, the S26 family goes back to whatever list Samsung wants to keep, and the XM5 at $198 is the number that will be hardest to match.