I tried the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and need the Privacy Display feature on my iPhone ASAP
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET Follow ZDNET:Add us as a preferred sourceon Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series sports a much-needed design upgrade. Top features include Privacy Display and truly useful AI. The camera and battery updates are unremarkable. Samsung has announced the third generation of its AI phones, the Galaxy S26 series, at the Galaxy…
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series sports a much-needed design upgrade.
- Top features include Privacy Display and truly useful AI.
- The camera and battery updates are unremarkable.
Samsung has announced the third generation of its AI phones, the Galaxy S26 series, at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco. As in previous years, the new lineup includes three phones: the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus, and Galaxy S26 Ultra.
I got a brief hands-on demo with the new-gen Samsung phones, and while the specs sheet might not indicate this, there are plenty of experiential upgrades to get through.
Also: Samsung Unpacked 2026 live blog: Galaxy S26 Ultra specs, Buds 4 Pro, OneUI 8.5, more
From the pixel-level Privacy Display feature to an all-new agentic AI and improved night mode videos, the Galaxy S26 Ultra seems like a solid upgrade over its predecessor. I used it for an hour ahead of launch, and here’s why I think it’s a bigger upgrade than the last two generations.
A much-needed design upgrade
Last year, Samsung slashed the weight of its Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the handset wasn’t comfortable to hold or use for long durations. The flat sides with sharp edges were an ergonomic nightmare, and I’m glad Samsung has fixed it — to an extent.
The new Galaxy S26 Ultra has a similar design to its predecessor. You get flat edges, rounded corners, minimal bezels on the display, and buttons on the right side. However, it feels more comfortable to hold and is a big step up from the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Also: Every Samsung Galaxy S26 model compared: Should you buy the base, Plus, or Ultra?
Samsung says the new Galaxy S26 Ultra is its “slimmest Ultra yet.” It has shaved off a decent 0.3mm in thickness, landing at a respectable 7.9mm. At 214 grams, it is also the lightest mainstream big phone.. To compare, it is thinner and lighter than the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max (8.75mm, 233g) and the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL (8.5mm, 232g).
These numbers contribute to a more comfortable in-hand experience. In my brief time with the phone, it was easier to manage with a single hand than the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Privacy Display is a big hit
Privacy Display can be turned on through the Quick Settings panel.
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
Samsung’s new flagship phone has a 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED display with a 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate. It features Corning Gorilla Armor 2 for protection from drops and scratches, and retains its less reflective coating. I love the low reflective panel, but my new favorite feature is the Privacy Display. It is built on the pixel level and has a very thoughtful implementation.
Privacy Display is built for times when you don’t want bystanders to see what’s on your screen. Samsung has placed wider-angle pixels and narrow pixels next to each other on the Galaxy S26 Ultra to control how they emit light. In comparison, its predecessor just had the wider-angle pixels, which emitted light in every direction.
With Privacy Display turned on, the screen is very lightly visible from the sides
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
With the Privacy Display turned on, the system uses only its new narrow pixels to transmit light at a 90-degree angle, straight to your eyes. This limits the legibility of your screen so no one can see it from a side angle.
This new feature should come in handy when you’re on the go, in cafes, or in any public space. It can be turned on easily through the Quick Settings panel. I love its implementation because Samsung allows you to customize when it works. You can have it turned on for the whole screen at all times, when entering PINs and passwords, or for specific apps at a particular time of day (using Routines).
Also: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. S24 Ultra: I compared both models, here’s who should upgrade
For instance, if you select Privacy Display to turn on for your messaging app, like WhatsApp, and you receive a pop-up notification, it will trigger only for that specific area. So, a bystander could be looking at your screen and yet won’t be able to see the message notification.
The Privacy Display feature has two settings to adjust its intensity: Partial Screen Privacy and Maximum Privacy Protection. The latter is said to “further obscure side views for added discretion, all with minimal impact on power and usability.” I noticed it affected the brightness of the phone, too, but worked well to reduce side-angle visibility.
Is this the best example of agentic AI on phones?
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, and paired with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM, depending on the storage variant. Samsung says this new processor delivers a 39% boost in NPU performance, a 24% improvement in GPU performance, and a 19% increase in CPU performance. It has also added a new vapor cooling chamber on the sides of the processor for improved sustained performance (for gaming).
The NPU improvements should help the Galaxy S26 Ultra with its new AI tricks, which include a revamped conversational device agent Bixby — yes, Samsung’s own virtual assistant is getting an upgrade. You can choose from Bixby, Gemini, and Perplexity to be your AI agent of choice. I went through a few demos using Gemini and Bixby that seem relevant for day-to-day usage and could finally help make AI truly useful.
The new AI features are dispersed through Samsung’s user interface. There’s a Now Nudge feature that suggests contextual actions, depending on your on-screen content.
Samsung Keyboard automatically recognizes what’s on your screen and displays contextual actions.
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET
For instance, if a friend asks you for photos from your New York trip, Samsung Keyboard’s suggestion bar will display an action to Share Photos from the Gallery. If you tap on it, the AI will take you to the Gallery app with “Photos from New York” or a similar thing already searched for you, so you land at that particular screen.
You can also trigger Bixby with the side button and ask it for specific settings. For example, you can say, “My screen is causing eye strain. How do I reduce it?” and Bixby will have Eye Comfort Shield page open that setting. It works without an internet connection and can be used to toggle actions. I used it to turn on Privacy Display and set the display to the highest resolution.
Also: This Galaxy S26 privacy feature stole the show for me at Unpacked – how it works
I also saw Gemini book an Uber with a voice command. You can ask your Galaxy S26 Ultra to book you an Uber, and it’ll do the work for you, but you’ll need to tap on the screen to make a payment. Samsung isn’t using agentic AI to pay for you, and that’s smart.
The Korean company says its Now Brief feature will become more “proactive and personalized,” while Circle to Search has been upgraded with “enhanced multi-object recognition” to help you explore “more deeply on multiple parts of an image at once.” It also has a new Call Screening feature that identifies unknown callers and summarizes their intent, helping you manage calls.
The camera and battery updates are…forgettable
The Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t getting all-new sensors, but Samsung says this is its “best camera system yet.” You get an upgraded 200MP primary camera with an f/1.4 lens (vs. f/1.7 on S25 Ultra) and a 50MP telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom and f/2.9 (up from f/3.4). The other two cameras, including the 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto sensor and a 50MP ultrawide-angle camera, remain the same as before.
These larger apertures let the sensors capture more light, improving nighttime photos and videos. In the curated demo, I noticed better color processing for neon lights at night — they no longer leak and are properly exposed without you needing to tap and manually set the exposure. The Galaxy S26 Ultra also fares better in nighttime videos with less noise and a GoPro-like Horizon Lock feature, but I’ll need to test these for myself to come to a conclusion.
Also: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: I compared both Androids, and this model wins
There are fun new photo editing features that allow you to create themed stickers of yourself and save them for later use. You can also return to previous edits on a photo within Samsung’s Creative Studio. And there’s an upgraded Photo Assist experience where you can describe the changes you want in your photo, and it’ll apply them. I’m not fond of adding things via a prompt to my photos, but I’m curious if I’ll find use cases for it as I use the device.
Samsung isn’t upgrading the battery on its new phone. The Galaxy S26 Ultra packs the same 5,000mAh battery capacity as its predecessor and the phone before it… and the phone before that. Seriously, Samsung hasn’t added a bigger cell to its Ultra phone since the Galaxy S22 Ultra in 2022. However, its new flagship phone at least charges faster at 60 watts – it is said to charge 75% in “around 30 minutes.”
Bottom line (for now)
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is a decent update and a bigger improvement than last year’s. I think it will be the first phone that I’ll start using with my voice, thanks to integrated conversational AI and agentic AI features.
Also: How to preorder the Samsung Galaxy S26 series – and where to find the best deals
I’ve always wanted my phone to take me to the setting I needed without having to search through the crowded Settings page or trigger contextual actions. These are nice-to-have features that could be coming to older flagship models, including the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, the Privacy Display feature remains unmatched, and I can’t wait to use it on my Galaxy S26 Ultra.
