Galaxy S26 Ultra goes official with Privacy Display, better cameras, and more

Samsung unveiled its newest top-of-the-line flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, today. During the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event, it also announced two other phones in the lineup, the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26+. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro earbuds were unveiled as well.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra brings several upgrades over the Galaxy S25 Ultra. These include the new Privacy Display feature, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, improved camera performance, faster charging, and new AI and software capabilities. Here is a closer look at everything new it brings to the table.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is available in three memory configurations:

Samsung has started taking preorders for the Galaxy S26 Ultra and will continue doing so until February 28, 2026. You can check the phone's detailed pricing here and its release date here.

Unlike the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Ultra, which used titanium frames, the Galaxy S26 Ultra features an Armor Aluminum frame. Samsung says it still offers strong durability, and aluminum may also help improve heat dissipation compared to titanium. However, the timing of this move is questionable.

The phone now has more rounded corners, making it more comfortable to hold. The design aligns more closely with the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+, bringing consistency across the lineup that was missing earlier.

Another visible change is the vertical pill-shaped camera island that houses three of the four rear cameras. This design was not present on the Galaxy S25 Ultra but was seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is available in four standard colors: Black, Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, and White. Two additional online-exclusive colors, Pink Gold and Silver Shadow, are available through Samsung.com in select markets.

The phone's back panel uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It also retains an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra features a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with QHD+ resolution (3,120 x 1,440 pixels), a 1Hz-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and up to 2,600 nits of peak brightness. It now supports 10-bit color depth, reducing color banding and displaying a wider range of colors.

The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, which reduces glare and reflections while maintaining durability.

The screen's most exciting feature is Privacy Display. This feature reduces the screen’s viewing angle to prevent nearby people from seeing what is displayed on the phone's screen. Users can apply it to the entire screen or only to specific areas, such as PIN/password entry fields or notifications. It can also be configured to activate automatically for selected apps.

Samsung explains that the display uses two pixel types: Narrow Pixels and Wide Pixels. When Privacy Display is off, both pixel types emit light, allowing wide viewing angles. When the feature is enabled, Narrow Pixels remain active while Wide Pixels significantly reduce light output, limiting visibility from the sides.

Privacy Display can be especially useful in crowded areas like airports, cafes, offices, and trains.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra retains the same four rear camera sensors as its predecessor, but two cameras now feature wider apertures.

The 200MP primary camera has an F1.4 aperture, compared to F1.7 on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The 50MP periscope telephoto camera now has an F2.9 aperture instead of F3.4. Wider apertures allow more light to reach the sensor, which should result in brighter images and lower noise, particularly in low-light conditions.

Rear camera specifications:

It supports video recording up to 8K 30fps (primary, ultrawide, and telephoto) and 4K 120fps (across all cameras). The 12MP front camera remains unchanged and supports up to 4K 60fps HDR recording. All cameras support Super HDR capture for images and videos.

Thanks to the upgraded image signal processor (ISP) and improved algorithms, Samsung says the phone captures images and videos with better color accuracy and higher details.

The Super Steady Video mode has been improved to include the Horizon Lock feature, offering extremely high stabilization that can even negate rotating or shaking the phone.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra also supports video recording in the APV codec format for higher-quality footage with reduced file sizes.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor globally. This customized version of the chip features higher clock speeds, an upgraded ISP, and a custom display engine compared to the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 used in rival phones.

Compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the new chip delivers:

The phone also includes an improved cooling system. The thermal interface material (TIM) in the vapor chamber system now extends along the sides of the processor, allowing heat to spread more efficiently and improving sustained performance.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra also uses UFS 4.1 storage, offering faster speeds than the UFS 4.0 storage used previously. The phone has 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, depending on the storage configuration.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra ships with Android 16 and One UI 8.5 pre-installed. Samsung promises seven major Android OS updates (up to Android 23) and seven years of security updates.

It also includes new and enhanced Galaxy AI features:

The Galaxy S26 Ultra retains a 5,000mAh battery. However, wired charging speed has increased from 45W to 60W, which Samsung calls Super Fast Charging 3.0.

Wireless charging has also improved, rising from 15W to 25W with Qi2.2 support. Unfortunately, the phone still does not include built-in magnets for sticking Qi2 accessories. You will have to rely on Qi2 cases with built-in magnets.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra supports Bluetooth 6.0, an upgrade from Bluetooth 5.4. It offers better performance in crowded areas, better privacy and security, and centimeter-level accuracy when finding objects. Other connectivity features include 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Ultra Wideband, NFC, GPS with multiple satellite systems, and a USB Type-C 3.2 port.

Additional features include stereo speakers, an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor, Samsung DeX, Samsung Pay, Knox security, Knox Vault, and Secure Folder.

Overall, the Galaxy S26 Ultra seems like a good upgrade over its predecessors, especially older devices like the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It goes on sale on March 11.