Samsung Adds Classic Music Experience to Galaxy S26

Most phone ringtones are designed to be ignored after the first week. Samsung decided to take a different approach with the Galaxy S26.

The company tapped two baroque giants, Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Händel, as the sonic identity for its latest flagship. The result is something genuinely unexpected in a market where default ringtones typically fade into irrelevance.

The choice sits under Samsung’s “Inspired by Nature” design philosophy, which guides every sound the phone makes, from tap feedback to notifications. The idea is that sounds should feel organic and grounded rather than synthetic. Baroque music, with its structured symmetry and natural rhythmic patterns, fits that thinking better than most people would guess.

Bach’s Prélude from Cello Suite No. 1 brings that familiar sense of movement and balance. A few seconds of it before you pick up a call lands differently than any digital tone. Händel’s Alla Hornpipe from Water Music Suite No. 2, originally written for a royal performance on the Thames, carries a flowing rhythm that sits comfortably in daily life.

Both pieces have a quiet history with Samsung. They appeared as ringtones during the Anycall era, the brand Samsung used in the 1990s and 2000s. Their return carries a layer of nostalgia that adds meaning beyond the music itself.

What elevates this beyond a marketing decision is the execution. These ringtones were recorded at Abbey Road Studios, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing. Jonathan Allan handled recording and mixing. Mastering came from Tae Ho Lee of MiXNBLE in Seoul. The Prélude featured the orchestra’s own co-principal cellist, Jonathan Ayling.

Samsung could have done this cheaply. It did not. And that matters.