The Galaxy S26 Ultra dares to innovate. The S26 and S26 Plus? Not so much 📱

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San Francisco, February 25, 2026. The lights dim, the music swells, and Samsung takes the stage for its annual Galaxy Unpacked showcase. This year, the company unveiled three new flagships — the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus and Galaxy S26 Ultra — alongside redesigned earbuds and a heavy dose of AI. But beyond the polished keynote and confident demos, the S26 lineup tells a more divided story. There’s the Ultra, which genuinely tries something new. And then there are its two siblings, carefully iterating — sometimes to the point of timidity.

The S26 Ultra: the one that dares ✨

Let’s start with the obvious headliner. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the only model in the lineup that truly takes risks this year — and it shows. Samsung ditches titanium in favor of aluminum, trims the body down to 7.9mm and 214 grams, and finally rounds the corners of its massive 6.9-inch frame. The S Pen is still here, though its slot is now slightly asymmetrical due to the redesign — a small but noticeable detail.

© Samsung

Under the hood, there’s no compromise. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers a 12% boost in multi-core performance over the previous generation, and Samsung promises significantly improved thermal management. The 5,000mAh battery now supports 60W fast charging, jumping from 0 to 81% in just 30 minutes — a long-overdue leap after years of conservative charging speeds.

On the camera front, the 200MP main sensor returns with a wider f/1.7 aperture, capturing 47% more light than before. The 50MP 5x telephoto lens also gets brighter, moving from f/3.4 to f/2.9. These spec tweaks may look modest on paper, but they translate into noticeably better low-light performance in real-world use.

The privacy display: a quiet breakthrough 🔒

The most original feature in the entire lineup is also the least visible — by design. The Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces a built-in Privacy Display embedded directly into its OLED panel, powered by a new technology called Flex Magic Pixel. The concept is clever: select pixels are engineered to direct light only forward, while side-scattering pixels are turned off. The result? Anyone sitting next to you on the subway sees a darkened screen.

Users can choose between two privacy levels, selectively hiding specific apps, incoming notifications, or even passwords on demand. This isn’t a third-party app or a stick-on privacy filter — it’s hardware-level integration. A first for smartphones.

For anyone who checks messages, bank statements, or medical records in public, this is a subtle but meaningful everyday upgrade.

S26 and S26 Plus: safe, almost too safe 😐

Let’s be blunt. The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus feel far less ambitious. In Europe, both run on Samsung’s 2nm Exynos 2600 chip, while North America gets the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It’s a return to Samsung’s split-processor strategy after last year’s Snapdragon-only Galaxy S25 lineup. Samsung claims its in-house silicon is now mature enough to compete — real-world testing will be the judge.

© Samsung

Camera hardware remains identical to the previous generation: a 50MP main sensor, 12MP ultra-wide, and 10MP 3x telephoto. Anyone hoping for a sharper ultra-wide will need to step up to the Ultra.

The standard S26 does get a slightly larger 4,300mAh battery (up from 4,000mAh) and a marginally bigger 6.3-inch display. But the S26 Plus is the hardest to justify: same camera system, same 45W charging, no meaningful differentiators. It feels more like a refresh than a true successor.

The compromises Samsung can’t ignore 😤

Some decisions are harder to defend.

First, pricing. The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus both see a €100 price increase over the previous generation — a first since the Galaxy S22 era. Samsung points to rising global RAM costs. The explanation makes sense in today’s market, but it’s a tougher sell when the hardware upgrades feel incremental.

Then there’s Qi2. Samsung still hasn’t integrated physical magnets into its phones, meaning devices are merely “Qi2 Ready” with a compatible case. Even Google moved forward with Pixelsnap on its Pixel 10. For a premium flagship in 2026, native magnetic charging feels overdue.

And charging speeds remain inconsistent. The base S26 is still capped at 25W — underwhelming when competitors offer double or triple that. The Ultra finally reaches 60W, the Plus stays at 45W, but the entry model clearly lags behind.

Preorders run through March 10, with general availability starting March 11, 2026. Samsung is once again offering its storage upgrade promo, letting buyers get the 512GB model for the price of 256GB — a particularly smart move for the Ultra.

Here is the official price list: Galaxy S26 (256 GB): €999 / 655,304 CFA francs · Galaxy S26+ (256 GB): €1,269 / 832,413 CFA francs · Galaxy S26 Ultra (256 GB): €1,469 / 963,605 CFA francs

Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro: taking aim at Apple 🎧

Samsung didn’t stop at smartphones. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro debut with a redesigned look, featuring a more angular stem accented by a metallic blade and a horizontally oriented charging case. Each earbud weighs 5.1 grams, and Samsung says it analyzed 100 million ear shapes to refine ergonomics.

© Samsung

The Buds 4 Pro adopt a dual-driver setup (woofer + tweeter) and support the SSC Ultra codec, delivering 24-bit/96kHz high-resolution audio. Active noise cancellation takes a significant step forward with five adjustment levels and automatic environmental detection.

Battery life reaches six hours per charge on the Pro, with 20 minutes of fast charging delivering four hours of playback.

Integrated into Galaxy AI on One UI 8.5, settings now surface directly in the notification panel, and new head gestures allow users to answer or reject calls — a feature familiar to AirPods users, but finally executed well in Samsung’s ecosystem.

Pricing remains steady: €179 for the Buds 4 and €249 for the Buds 4 Pro. No increases here — and that’s welcome.

One UI 8.5: when your phone starts thinking ahead 🤖

All devices ship with One UI 8.5, Samsung’s Android 16-based interface. And while the hardware story is mixed, software is where Samsung is placing its biggest bet.

The company describes the S26 series as its first “agentic AI” phones — devices that don’t just respond, but anticipate.

The flagship feature, Now Nudge, analyzes on-screen context and suggests actions in real time. Mention a date in a message? It prompts you to create a calendar event — without leaving the conversation. A friend asks for vacation photos? The system surfaces relevant images instantly.

Bixby now taps into real-time information, while Perplexity becomes the first non-Google assistant to gain a dedicated wake word on a Samsung device. Meanwhile, Samsung and Google are pushing deeper agentic AI integration through Gemini. In one onstage demo, users asked the assistant to handle a family dinner order: the AI checked preferences, built the cart on a delivery platform, and paused only for payment confirmation.

One UI 8.5 also expands its Audio Eraser to third-party apps like TikTok and upgrades its AI-powered document scanner to automatically remove creases, folds, and shadows.

© Samsung

Continuity isn’t always a virtue  🔭

In the end, the Galaxy S26 lineup feels split in two. The Ultra is easily the most compelling device — not just for raw performance, but for bold additions like the Privacy Display, improved pro-grade video capabilities, and meaningful charging upgrades. These are features that impact daily life, not just benchmark charts.

The Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus, however, struggle to fully justify their price hikes. Incremental camera updates, slow charging on the base model, no native Qi2 magnets — these are boxes many expected to be checked in 2026.

One UI 8.5 and its agentic AI vision promise a smarter smartphone experience. But software alone can’t carry the entire lineup.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro may quietly be the smartest buy from this event for anyone invested in Samsung’s ecosystem.

Samsung is playing it safe while others push aggressively forward. The real verdict will come in March — in users’ hands.

What about you, TechGriot family — does the S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display change the game for you? Do you think the price increase for the S26 and S26 Plus is justified? Tell us everything in the comments — we really want to hear your thoughts. 👇