Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra display tips and customisation tricks

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a peak brightness of 2600 nits and a refresh rate that scales between 1Hz and 120Hz.

Out of the box it is set up for broad compatibility rather than maximum personalisation, which means several of the most useful display features are either turned off by default or tucked away in settings most people do not immediately find. This article covers the key settings worth adjusting.

Here is a quick overview:

Privacy Display is the world’s first built-in Privacy Display on mobile. It narrows the viewing angle of the screen so that people nearby cannot easily read what is on your display, without affecting what you see from directly in front of the phone.

To turn it on, go to Settings > Display > Privacy Display, or add it to your Quick Panel for faster access. You have the standard Privacy Display mode, which reduces the viewing angle from the sides. Then there’s Maximum Privacy Protection, which restricts the angle further for situations where you want the highest level of screen privacy.

Privacy Display can also be set to activate automatically. You can configure it to turn on whenever you open specific apps — such as your banking app or messages — so you do not have to remember to enable it manually each time. Go to Settings > Display > Privacy Display > Conditions for turning on to set this up.

Always On Display shows information on the screen when the phone is locked, typically the time, date, battery level, and notification icons. It is turned off by default on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and can be enabled at Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Always On Display.

Once enabled, you can choose between showing the Always On Display all the time, only when new notifications arrive, or on a set schedule. The schedule option is particularly useful if you want it active during the day but not overnight. You can also tap the screen to wake the Always On Display without unlocking the phone.

The content and style of the Always On Display can be customised further. You can choose from different clock styles, add widgets such as a music player or calendar, and change the overall layout from the same settings menu or through the Galaxy Themes app.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display can adjust its refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on what is on screen. When you are scrolling through a feed or playing a game, it runs at up to 120Hz for smoother motion. When the screen is showing a static image or you are reading, it drops to a much lower rate to save power.

This is controlled at Settings > Display > Motion smoothness. The Adaptive setting handles this automatically and is the best option for most users. It gives you smooth scrolling where it matters without wasting battery on a high refresh rate when it is not needed.

You can also lock the refresh rate to 60Hz if you want to prioritise battery life over smoothness, though for most use cases Adaptive is the better choice.

Edge panels are quick-access panels that slide in from the side of the screen. By default, there is a small handle visible on the right edge of the display — swipe it inward to open the panel. The default panel shows your most used apps, but you can add panels for contacts, tasks, clipboard history, and more.

To customise them, go to Settings > Display > Edge panels. From here you can turn the feature on or off, choose which panels appear, adjust the position and size of the handle, and change its transparency. If you find the handle gets in the way, you can move it to a different part of the screen edge or reduce its size.

Edge panels are most useful for quickly launching apps or contacts without going back to the home screen. They work while other apps are open, making them a convenient shortcut layer on top of whatever you are doing.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra defaults to FHD+ resolution (2340 x 1080) out of the box. You can switch to QHD+ (3120 x 1440) at Settings > Display > Screen resolution for a noticeably sharper image, particularly when reading small text or viewing detailed photos. QHD+ uses more power, so it is a trade-off between visual quality and battery life.

Separately, the screen zoom setting controls how large content appears on the display. A smaller zoom level fits more on screen at once, while a larger zoom makes text and interface elements easier to read. You can adjust this at Settings > Display > Screen zoom. This is independent of resolution and does not affect battery life.

If you wear glasses or find the default text size too small or too large, the font size setting at Settings > Display > Font size and style is also worth adjusting. You can preview the changes in real time before applying them.

Eye comfort shield reduces the amount of blue light the display emits. Blue light can interfere with sleep when using a phone in the evening, and some people find it contributes to eye strain during extended reading sessions. Reducing it shifts the screen towards warmer tones.

You can turn it on at Settings > Display > Eye comfort shield. You can also add it to the Quick Panel for fast toggling. There are two modes: a manual mode where you set the strength of the warm tone yourself, and an Adaptive mode that automatically adjusts based on the time of day, increasing the warm tone in the evening and returning to normal during the day.

Eye comfort shield is particularly worth enabling if you read on your phone before bed. It does change the colour balance of the screen, so for colour-accurate work like photo editing you may want to turn it off temporarily.

Adaptive colour tone uses the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s front camera to detect the colour and brightness of the light around you. It adjusts the screen’s colour temperature and white balance accordingly.

In a warm indoor environment, for example, the screen shifts slightly warmer to match. In cooler daylight, it adjusts in the other direction. The result is a display that looks more natural and consistent across different environments without you having to adjust anything manually.

You can turn it on at Settings > Display > Adaptive colour tone, or toggle it from the Quick Panel. It works alongside Eye comfort shield rather than replacing it. When both are active, Eye comfort shield’s warm tone is applied first and Adaptive colour tone then fine-tunes the colour balance on top of that, so the two features complement each other rather than conflict.

Like Eye comfort shield, Adaptive colour tone changes the colour accuracy of the display. If you are doing colour-sensitive work such as photo editing, it is worth turning off temporarily to see true colours.

^{[1] Privacy Display: Requires manual activation in settings to function. Privacy Display feature is not AI-powered.}