In a post-Unpacked world dominated by Samsung’s new Privacy Display, a lesser-talked-about feature stole the show for me.
After Samsung showed off the new Galaxy S26 series in San Francisco on the 25th, the South Korean tech giant hosted a smaller hands-on event in Toronto.
I had the chance to attend the event and try out the new Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra. That’s where I got to go hands-on with the series’ new Horizon Lock feature for video recording.
Samsung Galaxy S26 makes motion photos smarter and videos steadier
Two small but important camera improvements
A software-powered gimbal
Essentially a stabilization feature found within the Samsung Camera app’s ‘Super Steady,’ Horizon Lock is a software-powered feature that mimics the hardware leveling of a gimbal.
It’s available across the S26 range, but in my experience, it works the best on the top-of-the-line S26 Ultra.
Here’s an external POV of what Horizon Lock looks like on the S26 Ultra:
And here’s what the S26 Ultra recorded while I was (violently) moving it side-to-side:
Here’s another example
External POV:
Internal POV:
Here’s how Horizon Lock works
For starters, Horizon Lock needs ample ambient light to accurately function, complete with enough light hitting the device’s camera sensors.
According to Samsung, the tech leverages an upgraded image signal processor (ISP), complete with high-megapixel sensors as the canvas for the feature, which is what makes the feature more reliable than the existing Super Steady mode.
A higher megapixel count is also primarily why Horizon Lock works better on the S26 Ultra.
There’s a low-light trade-off
Here’s an external POV of what Horizon Lock looks like on the S26+:
And here’s what the S26+ actually recorded while I was moving it from side-to-side (the output is dark thanks to a poorly-lit event and GIF compression):
On the S26 Ultra, the feature gets a bigger canvas to crop out a stable video from. This essentially means that the video output gets spare pixels as a sort of safety margin, which is like looking through a small window that’s fitted inside a bigger window.
As long as the smaller window’s movement doesn’t cross the larger window’s boundaries, the device can shift and rotate the video frame in real-time to counteract you moving the phone around.
In low-light scenarios, the feature sometimes simply refuses to work. If it does work, it often introduces noticeable artifacts and noise, as seen in the dark example above.
Regardless, in good lighting conditions, the feature essentially replaces a $150–$200 phone gimbal, which is big for those trying to get into action vlogging, capturing sports content, or just someone trying to capture their way around a city by foot.
How to enable Horizon Lock
To try out the new feature once you get your hands on your new Galaxy S26 series device, open the Camera app, switch to video, and tap the four-dot Quick Controls icon to pull up camera tools.
Tap the Super Steady stabilization icon, which looks like a stick man with a line going through, and then head to the last (new) icon, as seen in the video above. Your video feed should then prompt that Super Steady with Horizontal Lock is on.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is available to pre-order now. The new devices will start being shipped on March 6, with availability in stores expected on March 11.
Did you pre-order a new S26 series device? Or are you waiting for in-depth reviews to drop before you make up your mind? Let us know in the comments below!
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- SoC
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- RAM
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12 GB
- Storage
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256 or 512 GB
- Battery
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4,300 mAh
- Operating System
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Android
- Colors
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Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold
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- SoC
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- RAM
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12 GB
- Storage
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256 or 512 GB
- Battery
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4,900 mAh
- Operating System
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Android
- Colors
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Violet, Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver Shadow, Pink Gold
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- SoC
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- RAM
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12GB / 16GB
- Storage
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256GB / 512GB / 1TB
- Battery
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5,000mAh
- Operating System
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Android 16 / OneUI 8.5
- Front camera
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12MP
