Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26+, S26 go official: First impressions reveal “magical” treat (Watch)

Samsung has finally made it official. The flagships are here, and as expected, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26+ and S26 take centre stage at Unpacked 2026 in San Francisco on Wednesday. The Galaxy S26 series now come with improved performance, cameras with focus on Galaxy AI experience that translates into real-world experiences.

At first glance, the Galaxy S26 series looks eerily similar to last year’s S25 models, but with notable refinements that enhance the in-hand feel. But more than the hardware, it’s the AI improvements that make the difference here in this year’s flagships.

“With the Galaxy S26 series, we focused on making AI feel effortless, working quietly in the background so people can focus on what matters,” said TM Roh, CEO, President, and Head of Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26+, S26 first impressions

We got our hands on the Galaxy S26 trio with the S26 Ultra standing out (naturally). Samsung has made its superior flagship slimmer, which is now at just 7.9mm, and the difference is noticeable right from the get-go. The S26 Ultra is now more refined in terms of looks and the in-hand feel is superior.

But the highlight of the S26 Ultra is its display. Sure, Samsung knows its displays at the back of its hand. And building the display from the ground up, a new technology has been integrated, which Samsung calls Privacy Display. As the name suggests, it prevents shoulder surfing. This is not a gimmick.

We tested out the Galaxy S26 Ultra and found that one feature worked flawlessly. It’s not merely a hardware upgrade, but a deeper software integration that makes meaningful real-world applications. Once enabled, from the control panel or the Settings menu, Privacy Display will reduce the viewing angles drastically to block prying eyes from the sides. If you’re on a private video call with a family member or checking that personal WhatsApp message, there’s no need to look over your shoulder. The content is aligned with only your line of sight. On a hardware level, Samsung uses narrow pixel throw instead of wide pixels, and then, combining it with software, true magic unveils.

We could enable Privacy Display for specific apps or even notifications, or password/PIN screens. This means when you’re interacting with them, the person standing even a few inches apart will only see a black screen, whereas you get the full view of the content in its natural, vibrant colour form.

That’s not all. Continuing software wizardry, the Now Nudge feature works across the Galaxy S26 series, where users get contextually-aware suggestions. Think of it like your personal assistant constantly nudging you with soft prompts. Say you’re talking about sharing photos in a chat, a prompt will appear to share photos. If you’re making plans with a friend, it will let you set a reminder and even tell you if you’re double booking. Samsung says it has a whole lot of AI upgrades, surrounding Bixby, Gemini, Circle to Search, Now Brief, Audio Eraser supported on third-party apps like Instagram and YouTube and more. We’ll be sure to test them out during our review.

Coming back to the hardware, the S26 Ultra is powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, while the S26 and S26+ get treated with Exynos 2600. There’s also a redesigned vapour chamber, which improves cooling, which gamers will love.

On the camera front, the 200MP Wide and 50MP telephoto have gotten bigger apertures to let more light in and make your photos brighter. This was evident in our brief test of the low-light shots.

With all these upgrades, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26+ and S26 capitalize on the Galaxy AI with hardware refinements that move the needle just enough for you to take notice. Stay tuned for full reviews.