Samsung Galaxy S26: AI-Powered Performance & Enhanced Privacy

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S26 Series with Enhanced AI Capabilities

Samsung Electronics unveiled its latest flagship smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S26 series, at Galaxy Unpacked 2026 in San Francisco on February 25. The new series, powered by the company’s third generation of Galaxy AI, aims to simplify everyday tasks and deliver a more intuitive mobile experience. This launch underscores the growing importance of artificial intelligence in the smartphone market and Samsung’s commitment to leading that innovation.

The Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra combine powerful hardware with advanced AI features designed to work seamlessly in the background, allowing users to focus on results rather than the technology itself. According to Samsung, the Galaxy S26 series is engineered to handle complex tasks with greater efficiency and speed.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces a new level of privacy with its Privacy Display, a first-of-its-kind feature for mobile phones. This technology limits side-angle viewing without the necessitate for a screen protector, shielding on-screen content from onlookers. The display remains clear when viewed directly, but visibility is restricted from the sides, offering enhanced privacy in public spaces.

“We believe AI should support users in their daily lives, designed to work consistently for everyone and without the need for specialized knowledge,” said TM Roh, Vice Chairman, CEO and Head of Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) Division. “With the Galaxy S26 series, we focused on making AI work naturally, discreetly performing tasks in the background so users can focus on what truly matters.”

High Performance for Everyday Convenience

The Galaxy S26 series is designed for all-day performance and features a powerful dedicated chipset. Advanced energy and temperature management ensure smooth and reliable operation even during demanding tasks. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by a customized Snapdragon® 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, offering the highest performance in the Galaxy S series to date.

The new processor boasts a 19% increase in performance, enabling faster and more responsive operation. A 39% improvement in neural processing unit (NPU) performance enhances the always-active AI features, while a 24% boost in GPU performance delivers richer graphics and smoother gaming experiences.

A redesigned cooling chamber, featuring a thermal material along the processor’s sides, effectively dissipates heat, ensuring stable performance even during intensive employ. The Galaxy S26 Ultra likewise features Super-Fast Charging 3.0, capable of charging the battery to 75% in approximately 30 minutes.

Samsung’s proprietary technologies further enhance the display quality. The ProScaler feature improves image scaling, sharpening text and fine details while smoothing textures for a more vivid and clear visual experience. A new mobile Digital Natural Image function delivers more subtle and realistic colors with four times the precision of the previous generation.

The Best Galaxy Camera Yet

The Galaxy S26 series prioritizes intuitive usability for both creativity and productivity. The latest Galaxy camera system integrates capturing, editing, and sharing content into a seamless process, making content creation accessible even without professional tools or technical expertise.

Brighter camera apertures in the Galaxy S26 Ultra allow more light to reach the sensor, resulting in clearer, more detailed photos in low-light conditions. An improved Nightography Video mode delivers vibrant and clear footage even in darker environments. Video recording also benefits from enhanced Super Steady stabilization with a new horizontal lock option for consistent framing.

The upgraded AI ISP now extends to the front-facing camera, providing more natural skin tones and greater detail in various lighting conditions. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the first Galaxy smartphone to support Advanced Professional Video, a new professional-grade encoding standard designed for efficient compression while maintaining high image quality.

Photo Assist, an enhanced suite of AI-powered editing tools, allows users to quickly produce changes with simple commands. Users can change a scene from day to night, add new objects to a frame, or restore missing elements. The AI also enables modifications to clothing in photos, such as removing stains. All changes can be adjusted and reviewed step-by-step, providing a flexible editing process.

The Creative Studio goes a step further, combining creation and personalization in one space. Users can quickly transform an idea into a visual element, such as a sticker or personalized wallpaper, and refine it for sharing.

The series also simplifies common tasks with AI-powered tools like a Document Scanner, which removes distortions and imperfections, allowing for clean digital images. Multiple images can be automatically compiled into a single PDF file.

Intelligent Assistance for Daily Life with Galaxy AI

The Galaxy S26 series is designed to make frequently used features simple and user-friendly, with Galaxy AI shortening the steps between intention and action. The AI works proactively and adaptively, providing support in the right moment and automating tasks with minimal effort.

With Now Nudge, users receive timely and relevant suggestions to help them stay on track without distractions. If a friend requests photos from a recent trip, the Galaxy S26 automatically suggests images from the gallery. Upon receiving a meeting invitation, the device can check for conflicts in the calendar.

The Now Brief feature has become more proactive and personalized, recommending exercise playlists and displaying reminders for key events based on personal context.

Searching for information is easier than ever with Circle to Search with Google, which has been enhanced with expanded multi-object recognition, allowing users to browse multiple parts of an image simultaneously.

The Galaxy S26 series integrates a selection of AI agents, including Bixby, Gemini, and Perplexity, allowing users to perform tasks with a single button press or voice command. The device can also handle multi-step tasks in the background, streamlining the process. For example, Gemini simplifies the process of booking a taxi.

Security in the Age of AI

As mobile experiences become more personalized with AI, Samsung is prioritizing user privacy. The Galaxy S26 series incorporates security measures at every level, protecting personal data while providing transparency and control.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces a new level of privacy with its Privacy Display, a breakthrough display technology that fundamentally changes how privacy is protected on a smartphone. Designed for everyday situations, the feature limits side-angle viewing without compromising image quality.

By controlling how light is dispersed through the pixels, the display provides a clear and comfortable viewing experience while restricting visibility for others. Unlike traditional privacy filters, the integrated Privacy Display maintains full image quality when disabled and limits visibility when activated.

Users can choose when to activate the feature, such as when entering PINs and passwords, and customize privacy levels. Partial Screen Privacy intelligently limits the visibility of pop-up notifications, while Maximum Privacy Protection further obscures side views.

The series also features smarter software security that operates in the background. AI-powered Call Screening detects unknown callers and summarizes their intentions, helping users manage calls securely. Privacy Alerts use machine learning to notify users when apps with device administrator permissions attempt to access sensitive data.

The Private Album, built into the Gallery, allows users to easily hide selected photos and videos. Samsung is also expanding its innovations in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to critical system processes, strengthening device integrity for the future.

New updates to the Knox Matrix security platform further strengthen protection for connected Galaxy devices, adding end-to-end encryption with PQC support for direct transfers and providing better visibility into software update status across the ecosystem.

These security features are supported by Samsung Knox, a multi-layered security platform that protects Galaxy devices at the chip level. For AI integrated into the device, the Personal Data Engine enables personalized, context-aware interaction. Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection encrypts data for each app, and Knox Vault adds a physical layer of protection that isolates sensitive data within secure hardware.

Availability

The Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26+, and S26 will be available for pre-order starting February 25. The series features a unified design across all models, with color options including Cobalt Violet, White, Black, and Sky Blue, as well as Rose Gold and Silver available exclusively online.

Samsung Care+ offers comprehensive protection, including quick repairs, extended warranties, and certified expert assistance.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

* Specifications may vary by market.

* All features, specifications, and other product information included in this document, including but not limited to benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities are subject to change without notice.

[i]Use of some AI features may require logging into a Samsung Account. Samsung makes no promises, assurances, or guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI function results. Galaxy AI availability may vary by region/country, OS version, or device model.

[ii]Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies Inc. And/or its subsidiaries. Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.

[iii]Processor performance improvement compared to Galaxy S25 Ultra. Actual performance depends on usage environment, installed software, and applications.

[iv]Vapor chamber performance improvement compared to Galaxy S25 Ultra. Actual performance depends on usage environment, installed software, and applications.

[v]Typical value tested under laboratory conditions. Typical value is an estimated average value considering battery capacity deviations among battery samples tested under the IEC 61960 standard. Galaxy S26 Ultra rated (minimum) capacity is 4855 mAh.

[vi]ProScaler feature is available on Galaxy S26+ and S26 Ultra. Image quality can be increased to QHD+, depending on display resolution settings.

[vii]47% more light in the 200MP Wide Camera and 37% in the 50MP Telephoto Camera (5x Optical Zoom) on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Shown brightness improvements are compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

[viii]Results may vary depending on lighting and/or shooting conditions, including the number of subjects, lack of focus, or subject movement.

[ix]Super Steady results may vary depending on editing method and/or shooting conditions.