Samsung Galaxy S26/Ultra Impressions: 1 Crazy Display Feature!
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
MKBHD introduces first look and hands-on with new Samsung phones. Event in California, but snow of two-plus feet shut down flights for two days. Still in location with snow. Brandon from team got to California from city with less snow, saw phones, shot footage, sent it back. MKBHD has spec sheets to put it together for first look at interesting new Samsung phones.
Designs similar to last year with slightly new colors and slightly different camera ring with extra plateau around them. New prices: S26 at $900, S26+ at $1,100, S26 Ultra at $1,300. Bump up in base storage. Last year S25 launched at $799 with 128GB; this year S26 at $899 with 256GB. S26+ is 256GB at $1,100 instead of $1,000. Ultra remains $1,300. Fan Edition comes later as mid-range priced version; feels like making room for $800 phone. Price creep in lineup.
All get Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy; non-Galaxy version excellent, NPU optimization for AI on Samsung version. Ultra has slightly updated design: thinner, less boxy and squared off, back to aluminum sides instead of titanium, redesigned vapor chamber for thinner design. Slightly faster charging: 25W on S26, 45W on S26+, 60W on Ultra. Hardware changes mostly on Ultra: wider apertures on primary and telephoto cameras (f/1.7 to 1.4 on main, f/3.4 to 2.4 on 3X). Modest hardware changes. Still no magnets, no silicon-carbon batteries.
Ultra has new Privacy Display feature. Hardware-level control over pixels, turned on or off. Replaces privacy screen protectors that look horrible and are always on. From straight on, display unchanged; off-axis fades to gray and almost black from horizontal and vertical axes. Normal view straight on, blank screen for shoulder surfers or people next to you.
Turn on/off. Automatically enable in certain locations or for certain apps (e.g., banking app, photos app). Parts of screen: just password field blacks out while filling password, or top part for notifications. Awesome feature. Most Samsung thing ever: conservative flagships but tries insane stuff like Galaxy Note Edge (one side curved over bezel), Galaxy S edges, Galaxy Note huge display, Galaxy Fold, now tri-fold. All based on display innovations: curved, waterfall, folding, multiple folding, now privacy screen. Hopes it catches on and spreads to other phones.
Most new stuff is AI features from decently useful to slop. Cloned Google's call screening. Own version of Magic Queue called Nudge in keyboard, context-aware suggestions from other apps. Bixby now LLM-powered with Gemini and Perplexity integrations. Photo Assist like Google Photos AI editing built into gallery. Creative Studio like Apple's Image Playground, borderline useless. Throwing stuff at wall to see what sticks. Calling it an AI phone in press materials; not loving it amid need for real photos/videos, slippery slope of AI in photos.
No massive surprises. Feels like Samsung phones with small quality-of-life changes under the skin and subtle evolution. Not big Hail Mary. Ultra like refresh, cool for privacy screen. Excited to try in person. Base phones up $100, not excited, didn't try much else.
Let know what to see in full reviews in comments. Subscribe for reviews. For S26 Ultra, case like this or this? Sponsor dbrand Ghost case: never turns yellow (replace for free for life if it does), strong magnets (phone lacks them), clicky buttons, up to 10 feet drop protection. S26 lineup available now: zero-yellowing Ghost, customizable Grip, rugged Tank. Bundle Prism screen protector saves 15%, two in pack, easy install, works with privacy display. Available on site and Best Buy in US.
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