The first time I had seen Samsung‘s new Galaxy S26 Ultra, it was lauded as the next big agentic AI phone. It’s designed to meet your daily needs and habits, making your life easier. After spending two weeks with the device, going hands-on with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, I think it’s unfair to only recognize the phone for its AI features when Samsung has adopted what I think is its selling feature, the Privacy Display.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the most unique smartphones I’ve reviewed in a very, very long time. On the one hand, the Ultra series in the Galaxy lineup has been refined to such an extent that the Galaxy S26 Ultra feels very safe in many ways. The device carries over much of what I loved about last year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, when I found myself wishing Samsung had done more, I reminded myself how genuinely exciting the Privacy Display technology is. Pairing that with a snappy processor, extremely good battery life and improved low-light camera support, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is undeniably Samsung’s best smartphone yet. The device launches on March 11th, starting at $1,899, and comes in Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black, and White.
One of the immediate changes made for the Galaxy S26 Ultra is its design. This year, Samsung adopted an Armor Aluminum chassis. This partially helps Samsung achieve a lighter weight for the new phone. This year, the device weighs 214g, compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 218g. Samsung has also made the device slightly taller and thinner, measuring 6.44 x 3.07 x 0.31 inches. The corners are now more rounded, making them more aesthetically pleasing, especially in the Colbalt Violet colourway. My only gripe is that the Armor Aluminum case feels almost too smooth to hold, like I could drop it at any moment, which is why I immediately threw on an ESR Stash Stand case.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra carries over the 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display from its predecessor. It offers up to 3,120×1440 QHD+ resolution, though you must swap this from the default 2,340×1080 FHD+. You’ll also continue to find an in-display selfie camera cutout and a thin speaker at the top of the display. While all of this may sound like more of the same, it’s because it is. However, Samsung did bring something new and exciting to the table: its Privacy Display. More on that below.
Under the hood, the Galaxy S26 Ultra leverages the Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite 5. The new chipset is customized to boost efficiency across the device. This means faster CPU, GPU and NPU performance. The latter of which should be surprising as the Galaxy S26 Ultra leans heavily into AI tools. What this means for you is that the phone is insanely fast. In my typical workflow, apps loaded quickly, games like Asphalt 9 Legends ran smoothly, and there was enough NPU headroom to use AI-powered tools like the new Circle to Search 3.0.
Looking at the device’s camera array, Samsung is maintaining the same stack as last year. This includes the continued use of the 200-megapixel main lens, 50-megapixel telephoto shooter, 3x optical 10-megapixel camera and 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. On the front, Samsung uses the same 12-megapixel lens but expands to an 85-degree FOV. That said, Samsung does deliver an improvement to the 200-megapixel main camera and telephoto lens. Both now feature wider apertures, providing better low-light shots. There are also some new software features, including the new APV codec for creators and the Horizontal Lock function.
This year, the device’s screen is protected using Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, while the chassis uses Corning Gorilla Glass Armor 2, which should help against scratches and minor drops. You also gain access to the S Pen once again this year. The pen itself looks and functions very similarly to previous models, though it is slightly thinner.
When Samsung first pitched the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Feature, my knee-jerk reaction was that it would be a niche feature. However, the more I got a chance to play with it and see how useful it can be in a real-world setting, the more I fell in love with Privacy Display. The technology and usefulness of this feature are pretty remarkable and innovative. In fact, as I’m writing this review, I’m sad that Samsung is gatekeeping it for the Ultra model rather than bringing it to the base S26 as well.
Privacy Display, as the name suggests, is an optional feature that can be turned on to prevent anyone sitting at an angle from seeing what’s on your phone. From a technology perspective, Privacy Display controls the use of the display’s pixels, turning off the wide-angle pixels when the display is in use. This results in a blackened effect on the screen when viewed from an angle. If Privacy Display is off, both the wide-angle and narrow pixels are used, and the display functions normally, allowing a viewing angle of up to 180 degrees.
As privacy and security are important to users, Privacy Display is a stellar selling feature of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. After my trip to San Francisco, I was on the plane back home, using my Galaxy S26 Ultra to jot down notes. While they weren’t incredibly sensitive, I did feel a peace of mind of sorts knowing the person next to me couldn’t take a glance at what I was writing in Google Docs. When active, it’s pretty effective but not flawless from a baseline. During my testing, I could make out some dimmed images on the display from an angle. This is likely why Samsung includes the ‘Maximum privacy protection’ mode, which essentially blacks out the display altogether from an angle. This is where the feature shines. That said, the display does become pretty desaturated, so you do lose a bit of that stark brightness and colour from the AMOLED display.
What’s incredibly novel is having the ability to turn on Privacy Display on an app-by-app basis. So the feature can kick in if you’re using the TD Canada app, for instance, and then turn off when you switch to TikTok. The feature’s intelligence is another peace-of-mind quirk, so you can set it up and rest assured that, when you open your Gallery app, Privacy Display will kick in.
Privacy Display allows for extensive customization and tailoring, as it operates at the pixel level on the phone. You can set it to fill the entire screen or apply conditions. So, Privacy Display can kick in to cover just your PIN, passwords or even the notification field. The level of personalization is a great benefit for users who may not want Privacy Display on for entire apps.
This is a feature I can see Apple, Google, OnePlus and other major smartphone manufacturers copying in the next year or two. Some users may not value privacy enough to rush out and upgrade to a Galaxy S26 Ultra, but for those who want that added level of security, this is a welcome addition to this year’s device.
At a glance, Samsung’s approach to the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s camera may seem underwhelming. There’s effectively no difference to the camera stack from a megapixel perspective. All upgrades and refinements come in the form of minor tweaks and software improvements. Arguably, the most exciting improvement is directed at its low-light photography, aka Nightography. When taking photos or videos in low-light conditions, such as outdoors at night, the Galaxy S26 Ultra produces less grainy results. This is due to the scaled and wider apertures of the 200-megapixel main camera and telephoto lens exclusively.
Samsung’s Nightography is a true competitor of the iPhone 17 Pro series. As much as I enjoyed Apple’s take on photography last year, I thought the iPhone 17 Pro lacked quite a lot in low-light environments. At night, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is able to retain a lot of colour, contrast and detail without a ton of compromises in clarity. Of course, this does diminish when playing with the other lenses.
One of the most magical features on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is the Horizontal Lock feature when taking videos. This acts as a stability mode, locking the horizontal plane no matter the position or way you’re holding your camera. During my testing, I was able to begin recording in portrait mode, turn the phone horizontally and then back and forth, all the while the phone’s gyroscopes maintain the original perspective. The stability within this mode is also quite astonishing. During a boat tour around the San Fransico Bay, the waters were quite choppy and yet the video results were smooth and stable.
For creators, Samsung has added some pro-level video settings to play with. This includes the new APV codec, which supports 8K video capture at up to 30fps. This is a pretty phenomenal piece of support, allowing high-resolution video to be taken and edited directly on the device. The APV codec is similar to Apple’s RAW formatting, taking up a substantial amount of space on the phone, so the 1TB internal storage model would be recommended for creators.
This year, Samsung is supporting what feels like a laundry list of AI services. Adding onto Bixby, Gemini and Galaxy AI, the company added Perplexity. It becomes a bit of a tired mess to figure out which AI tool can handle which functions. Some are used exclusively for individual tasks, while other tasks can be handled by multiple tools. At the end of the day, Samsung sees the Galaxy S26 series as being powered by agentic capabilities. Though so far, we’re still in the early days.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is designed to leverage Gemini to work with third-party apps independently and anticipate your needs. For instance, at launch, the agentic toolset can speak with Uber, where Gemini can book a ride for you and handle the process entirely in the background until approval is needed for payment. In Canada, Uber is the only third-party app being supported. However, other apps are being added over time.
Building off the Now Brief platform, Galaxy S26 Ultra incorporates the Now Nudge tool. The device gives contextual reminders to the user, pulling information and giving it to you when you need it most. Now Nudge is a bit of a tricky nut to crack, as it’s all dependent on how much information is stored locally. For instance, I struggled quite a bit to have the tool understand I had a dinner reservation booked one night. I went back and forth in a message thread, adding more information like the location of the restaurant, time of the reservation, etc. I had to brute force my way into having Now Nudge finally work and pull up a Calendar button from within the keyboard. I think this is largely due to only having two weeks spent with the device thus far. This is certainly a tool that’ll get better the more time I spend with it.
Galaxy S26 Ultra features a stable of AI-powered tools to play around with. Circle to Search 3.0 is by far the most novel. Being able to encompass the entirety of the screen and have Gemini pull up information, including purchasing links for multiple items, is really useful. There’s also Photo Assist, which uses natural language to tweak or transform images. This feature is pretty hit or miss in effectiveness. I attempted to add a black hoodie to a full-body image of myself and the AI tool struggled quite a bit with its mapping.
I must commend Samsung for the optimization of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s battery. While it continues to use the 5,000mAh battery of its predecessor, I feel as though the Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite 5 provides more longevity per charge. On average, I’ve been getting upwards of 17 hours of consistent use from the device. I recall that during my testing of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, I was only getting around 15 to 16 hours max. Galaxy 26 Ultra’s strong battery supports all-day use of social media, emails and some light gaming and video streaming. Obviously, more intensive tasks will sap the battery, but average usage will ensure you don’t need a top-up until bedtime or the next morning. If you need to plug in, Samsung now supports 60W charging, offering up to 77% charge in only 30 minutes.
As much as I can tout about the device’s battery, I’m supremely disappointed that the device does not offer Qi2 or MagSafe built-in charging. The device is completely compatible with MagSage charging, only by way of a compatible case. I’ve been using the Galaxy S26 Ultra with a case just to take advantage of wireless charging capabilities. Samsung allows for an improved 25W wireless charging speed, up from 15W.
In an age where so many manufacturers are adopting wireless charging, a now-standardized feature feels like a glaring omission for the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Considering its premium price tag, I would have expected an inclusion in some capacity this year.
I came in thinking the Galaxy S26 Ultra had barely any room to grow from last year. Once again, I was proven wrong by Samsung. Although the company isn’t leaning on improved camera lenses or added display size, there’s still a lot to appreciate this year. As someone who doesn’t get super entrenched in AI tools or features, Now Brief or the agentic features don’t move the needle for me at all.
The selling feature for me are the Privacy Display, which gives users so much customization at their disposal. Whether you want full privacy or only want to protect banking information and passwords, Samsung allows that. Add in some great Nightography improvements and the Horizontal Lock camera features, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra is a far more well-rounded premium smartphone on the market.
Galaxy S26 Ultra launches on March 11 with a starting price of $1,899 for the 256GB model. There is also a 512GB option for $2,179 and a 1TB model for $2,599. Preorders are available today. At launch, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is launching in Clay, Violet, Sky Blue and Black.
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