Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Review: There's a Catch
In a Nutshell
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra impresses with its innovative Privacy Display that blocks off-angle viewing for apps like banking, but it halves resolution, dims brightness, and degrades overall viewing angles and anti-reflective coating compared to the S25 Ultra. Performance, battery life, and cameras see minor improvements via Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and larger apertures, but the thinner design worsens S Pen insertion and table stability, lacks Qi2 magnets or silicon-carbon battery, and starts at $1,300—making it a clever but compromised flagship outperformed in displays and value by rivals. Base S26/S26+ are poor deals with outdated designs, Exynos chips outside the US, and higher entry pricing.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Initial impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra were positive based on pre-release footage, but after using it for a week, not much is new. A few new features are interesting, but every feature involves trade-offs. The new Privacy Display is a standout case study.
On paper, specs are similar to last year: 6.9-inch OLED display, 1440p resolution, 1-120Hz. The massive new feature is the Privacy Display, toggled on/off as needed. It limits viewing angles dramatically, preventing shoulder-surfing. Unlike $20-30 polarizing screen protectors that only block horizontal/vertical off-axis views, this blocks all viewing angles. Built into the display, it activates only for specific pixels/apps like banking or texting apps, or incoming notifications.
This is a genuinely useful innovation. It's really special that it's actually a new hardware feature, which we really don't get that often in the smartphone world these days.
The display has two pixel types: wide-angle pixels viewable from everywhere, and narrow-angle pixels with focusing lenses viewable only straight-on. Normally, all pixels are on. Privacy mode turns off wide-angle pixels, leaving only narrow-angle ones, halving resolution. This causes blockier text edges and reduced fine details/contrast. Under microscope: Privacy off shows normal pixels; on shows half turning off. Peak brightness is lower, though pixel output adjusts to maintain perceived brightness—still slightly dimmer at high levels. Display is slightly worse all the time due to narrow lenses on half the pixels degrading viewing angles permanently. It has a different coating, not as good at anti-reflective as S25 Ultra. Still an 8-bit display simulating 10-bit color, not native 10-bit like competitors.
Sign in to read the full notes
Get access to AI-generated notes, topic timestamps, and more.