Samsung’s Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra Are Gentle On {Hardware} Upgrades, Heavy on AI

Right on schedule: Samsung has simply introduced its newest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S26 sequence, at its Galaxy Unpacked occasion in San Francisco.

The Galaxy S26 sequence follows the identical refresh sample of previous years: small tweaks to a longtime method. That could make the brand new Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, which can be found for preorder at this time, Feb. 25, and at retail beginning on Mar. 11, sound a bit tame, however that’s simply how these annual telephone launches are actually. That doesn’t imply there’s nothing to get enthusiastic about. Specifically, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has a brand new show characteristic known as “Privacy Screen” that I need each different telephone to repeat.

See Galaxy S26/S26+ at Samsung.com

See Galaxy S26 Ultra at Samsung.com

Goodbye titanium (on the S26 Ultra)

Let’s skip proper to probably the most notable adjustments first. Just like Apple did with the iPhone 17 Pros, Samsung has ditched titanium for aluminum. Apple justified the metallic body downgrade as a manner to enhance the iPhone 17 Pro’s thermals, permitting warmth to disperse extra evenly throughout the telephone’s bottom with assistance from a brand new vapor chamber for higher cooling, which in flip prevents efficiency throttling. In the S26 Ultra’s case, the aluminum means a lighter machine at 214g versus the S25 Ultra’s 233g.

I’ve not touched any of the Galaxy S26 telephones in particular person—I couldn’t make it to Unpacked due to the blizzard that hit the U.S. Northeast simply earlier than the occasion—however my colleague, Adriano Contreras, who took all the images on this article, did, and he informed me they positively really feel lighter, although no much less strong within the hand.

The common S26 and 26+ each follow aluminum frames. This time round, the S26 Ultra additionally has the identical rounded nook radii as the opposite S26 fashions. Altogether, Samsung says the much less boxy design on the S26 Ultra provides the entire S26 lineup a extra unified design.

Beyond different small tweaks like an up to date digicam island that resembles the one discovered on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and S25 Edge, the S26 sequence is simply one other touchscreen slab. If you’re on the lookout for a much less conventional kind issue, contemplate Samsung’s foldables just like the Z Fold 7 or the Z Flip 7.

A display screen that’s extra personal in public

The greatest promoting level the S26 Ultra has going for it’s its new “Privacy Display.” This is a pixel-level show expertise that allows you to darken the perimeters or high of the display screen to forestall others from seeing your content material. It’s form of like a type of privateness display screen protectors that you would be able to apply on high of your telephone’s display screen, besides it’s constructed into the S26 Ultra.

The Privacy Display characteristic can be greater than only a built-in privateness display screen protector. It may also obscure notifications, passwords, PIN codes, and sample unlocks to safeguard them from potential peepers. Again, I’ve not seen or tried the Privacy Display characteristic for myself, however Adriano tells me that it’s “impressive.” In his personal phrases: “When I saw it only blur a text notification bubble up top, that’s when I said out loud, ‘sold!’”

Sounds actually neat. The solely draw back is that the Privacy Display characteristic is unique to the S26 Ultra; the S26 and S26+ don’t have it.

Faster efficiency, sooner charging, and barely improved cameras

As I mentioned, the S26 sequence is generally a minor {hardware} refresh. Almost all the things is identical in comparison with the S25 sequence. The S26 Ultra has the identical 6.9-inch display screen; the S26+ has the identical 6.7-inch show; the S26 display screen is barely bigger at 6.3 inches versus the S25’s 6.2 inches, although it retains the identical earlier decision.

All three S26 telephones are powered by Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chip. This is a custom-made model of the common Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip that different telephone makers have entry to. Samsung says you’ll be able to count on a CPU that’s as much as 19% sooner, a GPU that’s as much as 24% sooner, and an NPU (neural processing unit for AI and machine studying) that’s as much as 39% sooner. Combined with a redesigned vapor chamber that Samsung claims dissipates extra warmth, the telephones ought to throttle much less, too.

The battery capacities for all three S26 telephones are similar to their predecessors: 4,300mAh on the S26, 4,900 on the S26+, and 5,000mAh on the S26 Ultra. The solely distinction is in charging speeds on the S26 Ultra, which might now quick wire cost at as much as 60W and quick wi-fi cost at as much as 25W. The common S26 helps quick wired charging at as much as 25W; the S26+ at as much as 45W. For quick wi-fi charging, the S26 helps as much as 15W and the S26+ as much as 20W. To my disappointment, not one of the S26 telephones have built-in magnetic wi-fi charging in any respect. Even Google added magnetic wi-fi charging (Pixelsnap) to its Pixel 10 sequence (besides the brand new Pixel 10a). Samsung’s protection is that each one of its official S26 circumstances include built-in magnets and that including them would have made the telephones thicker. I nonetheless assume that Samsung shouldn’t have cheaped out right here, particularly on the S26 Ultra.

As for the cameras on the S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra—they’re principally the identical as earlier than, too. The S26 and S26+ have a triple-lens digicam system made up of a 50-megapixel f/1.8 extensive, a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel f/2.4 3x optical telephoto zoom. The S26 Ultra has a quad-lens digicam system comprised of a 200-megapixel f/1.4 extensive, 50-megapixel f/1.9 ultrawide, 10-megapixel f/2.4 3x optical telephoto zoom, and a 50-megapixel f/2.9 5x optical telephoto zoom (with 10x optical-quality zoom). Eagle-eyed tech nerds will discover that the apertures on all 4 of the S26 Ultra cameras are bigger (smaller f-stop quantity). Samsung says the 200-megapixel shooter is 40% brighter and the 50-megapixel tele is 37% brighter, which suggests low-light pictures ought to look a bit of higher. The firm can be highlighting enhancements to its “Nightography” video recording.

All of the S26 telephones have a 12-megapixel f/2.2 selfie digicam. Samsung says it’s made enhancements to exposing pores and skin tones. No square-shaped picture sensor to allow you to maintain the S26 telephones in portrait mode to shoot horizontal selfies like you’ll be able to with the Center Stage digicam on the iPhone 17 sequence and iPhone Air.

More Galaxy AI… in every single place

I anticipated Samsung so as to add extra Galaxy AI options, however I feel it might have gone too far this time. Unlike earlier years, when Samsung sprinkled a few new AI options into its telephones to get customers accustomed to what’s doable with the expertise, the S26 telephones really feel like they’ve too many Galaxy AI options—so many who it is likely to be onerous to recollect all of them.

Samsung actually stuffed the S26 telephones with AI in every single place. “Now Nudge” works just like the Pixel 10’s “Magic Cue” characteristic, proactively taking a look at your information and suggesting duties like including occasion particulars to a calendar, setting reminders, or sharing pictures from a particular day for those who point out it in a textual content message. The “Now Brief” hub can now floor extra well timed reminders and occasions, pulling from incoming notifications. An “Automated app action” characteristic can allow you to enter a immediate like “call me an Uber to Seoul Station,” and the AI will launch the app and faucet by the assorted buttons, after which ask on your remaining fee affirmation. This is Samsung’s tackle agentic computing, the place an AI does all the things for you; it’s additionally restricted to Uber at launch.

AI can now kind your screenshots into eight classes (social media, coupons, boarding passes, occasions, places, barcodes, QR codes, and chats) to make it simpler to seek out stuff later. “Circle to Search” can now establish a number of items of clothes in pictures of an outfit, which…. Samsung says will make it simpler to buy these items.

There’s an improved Photo Assist characteristic that allows you to describe adjustments you need to make to a photograph; it’s much like the Pixel’s “Help me edit” characteristic that makes use of Gemini to make picture edits. A “Creative Studio” enables you to use a immediate to create pictures for wallpapers and stickers—I admit, creating stickers appears form of enjoyable. “Document Scan” is a beefed-up doc scanner with settings to robotically take away fingers, creases, or web page folds, after which compile the scanned pages right into a single PDF. The “Audio Eraser” characteristic that makes use of AI to erase background noise from movies now works in choose third-party apps like YouTube and Instagram.

Samsung can be together with “Call Screening,” which makes use of Galaxy AI to reply calls from unknown numbers after which transcribe them, and “Scam Detection,” which makes use of AI to establish potential rip-off callers.

And for those who thought Bixby was useless—it’s not. It’s been rebooted as an “Intelligent Device Agent” that may higher perceive pure language relating to stuff like getting assist along with your machine settings. Samsung additionally says it’s built-in Perplexity to help with expanded prompts whenever you would possibly want a solution for a immediate that requires wider data from the web.

Altogether, it’s loads of AI to soak up. How helpful any of those options can be will come right down to the person. Tech corporations are telling us how helpful AI this and that can be in automating time-consuming duties, however on telephones, I’ve but to totally belief them. Even on the Pixel 10 Pro, which I’m nonetheless dailying, I nonetheless discover myself ignoring a lot of the Gemini options.

A $100 Price Hike for the S26 and S26+

All three S26 telephones can be out there in 4 colours: Cobalt Violet, sky blue, black, and white. There can be two online-exclusive colours: Silver Shadow and Pink Gold.

But the factor that doubtless gained’t sit properly with shoppers is the $100 value hike for the Galaxy S26 and S26+, which now begin at $899.99 and $1,099.99, respectively, for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For the common S26, that’s $100 greater than the iPhone 17, which begins at $799. The S26 Ultra begins on the identical as $1,299.99 because the S25 Ultra did for a similar 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Samsung didn’t present any particular motive for the value hike, but when I have been to guess, it in all probability has to do with the RAM and storage scarcity brought on by AI information heart hoarding, which has led to the skyrocketing of just about all shopper electronics that use the elements. Or, perhaps it’s tariffs. Whatever the rationale for the value improve, it sucks.

See Galaxy S26/S26+ at Samsung.com

See Galaxy S26 Ultra at Samsung.com