It’s hard to know what to make of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. On one hand, it has a fascinating, world-first mobile feature with genuine real-world use, but on the other, it’s hard to call it anything other than a basic annual upgrade.
Having spent just an hour with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, there was a lot to take in and try, and it turns out, there’s also a lot to say about it.
The Privacy Display is very cool
Ultra standout feature
The Privacy Display is the top reason to consider buying the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and contrary to what you may initially think, it’s not a gimmick. It’s enabled through both hardware and software, and operates at a pixel level, meaning it has been engineered into the S26 Ultra and not just a cheap add-on.
It works by dimming pixels on the sides of the screen and boosting them in the center, with the result being at anything other than a mostly face-on angle, the screen appears black. Anyone looking at the screen from the side, no matter the angle, can’t see what’s on the screen.
It works fullscreen, but can also be tuned for partial screen use, meaning it only obscures notification popups. It’s not always active, and has to be manually enabled in the Quick Settings menu, plus it can be customized to only operate for certain apps.
Privacy Display is shockingly effective, and if you’ve ever wondered if someone sitting next to you is looking at your screen, it’ll stop them in their pixel-peeping tracks. However, it comes with one downside: screen brightness.
Turn Privacy Display on, and the screen brightness instantly dims. Never to the point where you can’t see, but you will notice it. You can still manually adjust the brightness, and I don’t think you’ll have a problem seeing the screen in sunlight, but if you want the screen’s maximum brightness for games or videos, Privacy Display should probably be turned off.
I was genuinely impressed by Privacy Display, and it’s one of those rare features that makes you say “wow” when you see it working for the first time. I’m also pretty sure everyone can imagine using it, or at least envisage scenarios where it may be useful. Equally though, there will be others who see it as an add-on designed only for the paranoid, no matter how well the feature actually works.
Galaxy S25 Ultra’s big problem solved
Much more comfortable to hold
Privacy Display is the main thing everyone will talk about with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but we should also applaud Samsung’s efforts to thin down the Ultra’s size and bulk, while also improving in-hand comfort.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has basically the same footprint as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it’s down to 7.9mm thick and 214 grams. The phone still has flat sides and a flat back, but the corners have a consistent radius to give the phone a unified look.
Best of all, the sharpness of the S25 Ultra’s frame has been eliminated. It’s a really subtle visual change, but far more noticeable in your hand. Hold the two phones together, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s edge where the frame meets the glass and rear panel has been softened ever-so slightly, improving ergonomics.
The phone’s chassis is made from Armor Aluminum, the glass is Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, and the anti-reflective coating is back on the screen. There’s a choice of colors. In stores you’ll find black, white, Sky Blue, and Cobalt Violet, while there are two other colors, Pink Gold and Silver Shadow, exclusive to Samsung’s online store.
Impressive feature upgrades
But quite niche appeal
If you’re looking for big, splashy feature upgrades inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra, you’re not going to find many. However, there are a lot of very impressive smaller features, and some old favorites that have been refined.
Audio Eraser previously removed unwanted background sound from videos you shot, but now it also works in third-party apps like YouTube, Netflix, and Instagram. The example I was shown featured a video shot in a football stadium during a game, and Audio Eraser minimized the crowd noise to focus on the commentators. It’s genuinely noticeable, and worked really well.
Now Nudge is an extension of Now Brief, and after getting to know you, will make contextual suggestions based on what’s happening on-screen. It’ll examine the calendar when you’re asked to make an appointment, and find photos if someone asks for them in a message, by not only understanding times and dates, but also people too.
Galaxy AI powers a Call Screening feature, where the AI will answer an unknown number caller, ask for information, and relay it back before you answer the call yourself. You can even continue the call using text rather than voice, with Galaxy AI acting as the intermediary.
Elsewhere, a new Search with Finder tool can be found on the home screen, and provides instant search for features and settings, plus it can recommend and explain features based on your requirements. For example, if you tell it your eyes are tired, it will recommend the eye protection modes, and even knows if the feature is already active or not.
Base spec upgrade
Welcome changes
Exploring these new and updated features was fun, and the changes emphasize how Samsung has worked on refining the Galaxy S26 Ultra, rather than trying to dramatically change the already winning formula. This is also evident in the fundamental specification.
Samsung has made two crucial alterations to the Galaxy S26 series’ base specification. All phones now start with 12GB of RAM, and all phones have a minimum of 256GB of storage space. The top Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage space.
These are positive steps forward and increase value, but only time will tell what Samsung’s other major spec change brings.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has the second generation version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, which has been tuned to boost NPU, CPU, and GPU performance inside the phone.
The Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus use the Samsung Exynos 2600 processor. It’s built using a 2nm process, making it a world-first. This could potentially bring performance and efficiency advantages, particularly over previous Exynos processors, which may help repair the reputational problems Samsung faces with the Exynos chip range.
The S26 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, just like before, but the recharge speed has been improved. Samsung says to expect to see 70% charge in 30 minutes, which should give a genuine real-world boost. The phone also has wireless charging.
What about the camera?
Business as usual
You’ve probably spotted I haven’t really talked about the camera yet, and that’s because not a lot is new, and the updates which are there were impossible to test in my short initial time with the phone.
The Ultra’s 200-megapixel main camera now has an f/1.4 aperture and the 50MP telephoto camera has an f/2.9 aperture, allowing more light to enter and improve lowlight performance. Samsung’s software and For Galaxy chipset, along with ISP improvements, should mean we see improvements in photo quality once we can get out and take them.
The 200MP main camera enables a 2x optical zoom, the 10MP telephoto provides a 3x optical zoom, the 50MP telephoto a 5x optical zoom and a 10x optical zoom. There’s also a 50MP wide-angle camera and a 12MP selfie camera.
There are a few feature changes to note. These include 8K video recording at 30fps, an auto-framing mode for 4K video which recognizes your subject (such as a band performing on stage) and keeps them in frame automatically, plus a reworked ISP for selfies.
Super Steady Video has been upgraded to smooth out video recorded where the camera moves around a lot. It locks the horizon using the gyroscope and accelerometer, and updates in real-time, correcting video at up to a 360-degree angle. It’s very effective, and even fast, jerky, difficult-to-anticipate movement didn’t confuse it.
Upgrades at a cost
Price increases are here
The cost of the Samsung Galaxy S26 range varies a little from the 2025 prices. The standard 256GB Galaxy S26 Ultra remains $1,300, but the base 256GB Galaxy S26 is now $900, and the 256GB Galaxy S26 Plus is $1,100. We are waiting to see the cost of the Ultra models with more storage, but expect to see higher price increases, based on the new UK prices.
In the UK, the 256GB Galaxy S26 Ultra has increased to £1,279, up from £1,249, which is acceptable enough, but the real pain comes when you want more internal storage space. The 512GB version is £1,449 up from £1,349, and the 1TB version is a massive £1,699 up from £1,549.
It’s not hard to see how the cost of RAM and memory has impacted the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s top models. It’s not good news for the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus either, with the S26 starting at £879 and the S26 Plus at £1,099.
Should you consider the Galaxy S26 Ultra?
There are some genuinely meaningful updates, and one standout new feature, inside the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but do they add up to providing strong value for money?
Although the upgrades don’t sound all that impressive, I love Samsung’s decision to refine and improve what it already has, rather than introduce more niche features, which makes it easier for people to understand whether they should upgrade or not.
If you own a Galaxy S25 Ultra or even a Galaxy S24 Ultra, then unless you really want the Privacy Display, you’re probably safe with what you’ve got. If the Galaxy S23 Ultra or an older Ultra phone is in your hand, then the performance upgrades alone make it worth a close look.
We’ll know more when we get our hands on the Galaxy S26 Ultra for longer than 60 minutes, when we’ll understand if it’s more than just the ideal phone for the paranoid.
