The Play Store Now Sells Phones, and Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Sits Right Next to the Pixel

Open the Google Play Store, tap your profile picture, and you may find something new in the account menu: a Shop devices entry. Tap it and the store that normally sells you apps and movies starts selling you hardware. Not just Google’s own, either. On a number of accounts, Samsung’s Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra sit in the same list as the Pixel 11.

The tab started showing up on October 14, and 9to5Google, Android Authority and SamMobile all spotted it within hours of one another. Google hasn’t made an announcement. What it has done is update a support page saying the Play Store will now show “Google and Samsung devices listed for sale on the Google Store.”

What’s in the new tab

The lineup depends on who’s looking. 9to5Google’s Ben Schoon saw a mix he called “a bit scattershot”:

• Samsung: Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Galaxy Watch 9
• Google: Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Pixel 10a, a Pixel Watch and the Google TV Streamer

Android Authority’s Akshay Gangwar, on the other hand, only saw Google gear on his own devices: the Pixel 10a, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 5 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. The Samsung listings reached him through a reader tip. SamMobile reports the same split, noting that in India the section currently carries only Pixel phones. In other words, this is a staged rollout, and seeing an empty or Pixel-only tab today doesn’t mean you won’t get the Galaxy lineup later.

How buying actually works

The Play Store isn’t processing the order itself. Tapping a device hands you off to the Google Store, where you pick a configuration and check out like any other Google Store purchase. According to 9to5Google, that brings two perks with it: the 10% Google One cashback benefit applies, and Google Store credit can be spent on Samsung hardware as well as Pixels.

Prices are the usual list prices. Android Authority points out that the Shop devices listings carry no discounts, unlike the Galaxy Watch 8 banner Google ran in the Play Store earlier this year, which came with $20 off. If you’re shopping for a Galaxy S26 purely on price, Samsung’s own store and the carriers still deserve a look.

Until now, Samsung devices only reached Google’s storefront in narrow ways, mostly through Play Points promotions and redemptions. A permanent shelf for Galaxy phones next to the Pixel is a much bigger statement.

Why Google would sell a rival’s phone

On the surface it looks odd. Google makes the Pixel 11, and the Galaxy S26 is the Android phone most likely to stop someone from buying one. But Google’s real business on Android is the services layer, and Samsung ships more phones running Google’s apps than anyone. Selling a Galaxy phone through the Google Store still brings a buyer deeper into Google One, Gemini and the Play Store itself.

It also says something about the Samsung relationship. The two companies already share Wear OS on the watch side and lean on each other heavily for AI features. A shared storefront is the retail version of that partnership. SamMobile notes that neither company has commented, and nobody knows what cut Google takes on each Galaxy sale.

The obvious question is who’s missing. Motorola, OnePlus and Nothing all build Android phones that could use the exposure of the Play Store, which sits on billions of devices. Android Authority raised the same point. For now, the tab is a two-brand affair.

Should you care?

If you were already going to buy from Google, nothing changes except one more shortcut. If you were planning on a Galaxy S26 and have Google Store credit sitting around from a past Pixel promo, or you’d like the 10% Google One cashback, this is a new and legitimate way to put it to work. Just compare the final price with Samsung’s own deals before you tap buy. As Schoon put it, the change “certainly won’t be for everyone, but it’s a nice bit of flexibility on Google’s part.”

Sources: 9to5Google, Android Authority, SamMobile. Photo by MARCO on Unsplash.