I love Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra but its best new | Tech News

Yes, the Galaxy S26 Ultra has had a large velocity improve, is available in a vary of new colors and will get some smarter AI options, but the one replace everyone seems to be speaking about is its Privacy Display. This very intelligent screen can now stop prying eyes from glancing at your texts or having a sneaky peek if you punch in your password.

It’s all made doable by technology that enables the screen’s pixels to maneuver dynamically. This retains the show seen if you have a look at it straight on, but it seems dim when considered from the aspect by anybody round you. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the S26 Ultra in my arms because it launched final month during Samsung’s Unpacked occasion in San Francisco, and there’s no doubt that the Privacy Display is a standout characteristic that Samsung’s rivals can’t match.

It’s easy to show it on or off by way of the Quick panel drop-down menu, and you may even customise it to solely clean out sure apps, messages or simply your lockscreen password. It’s actually helpful, but, having totally examined it, there’s no approach I would have this operate switched on completely.

The second the Privacy Display is activated, Samsung’s dazzling 6.9-inch AMOLED screen immediately appears muted and uninteresting due to the loss of some pixels in an effort to make the angled viewing doable

It nearly looks like you’ve got a gadget from 10 years in the past in your hand, and it makes the entire visible expertise look a lot much less premium.

I’ve additionally seen an challenge when taking pictures – particularly when snapping issues at an angle. If you aren’t wanting instantly on the screen, the objects you are attempting to shoot aren’t clear on the screen, making it arduous to get that good Instagram-ready snap.

I’m sure many people will actually like this privateness operate because it does offer some peace of thoughts – particularly when on a packed practice or when travelling on the London Underground.

However, my life merely isn’t that secretive to warrant a toned-down show.

I additionally marvel if having it switched on might trigger more hurt than good. I can see the arguments now when companions all of a sudden realise this setting has been activated and texts are being hidden from view.

Of course, Samsung doesn’t pressure you to modify it on, and there are various situations the place it might be actually helpful. There’s additionally nothing else on the market fairly prefer it, and people wanting some privateness at present need so as to add a particular screen protector to their units that may’t be turned off except solely completely eliminated.

So, that’s the Privacy Display, but what else is new on the Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Firstly, there’s a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor beneath the hood, which delivers critical efficiency positive factors.

The Ultra is the one Galaxy cellphone to get this premium improve within the UK, as each the S26 and S26+ characteristic Samsung’s Exynos 2600 chip as a substitute.

Along with being ludicrously fast, the 8 Elite Gen 5 is tremendous environment friendly, and I’ve had no points getting by a entire 24 hours on a single charge.

In reality, deal with it kindly and the 5,000mAh battery will simply final into a second day. To help the gadget keep cool beneath stress, Samsung has additionally redesigned the Vapour Chamber, permitting heat to unfold more effectively throughout a bigger floor space. That’s particularly helpful for anybody who loves gaming on their smartphones because it stops the metallic case from getting too toasty.

Like all Ultra telephones, the quad rear cameras are very good and offer a lot of choices, together with taking landscapes by way of the 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens and getting up close with its 5x optical zoom.

These lenses additionally now shoot higher photos at night time and offer improved video by way of upgraded Super Steady capabilities and a horizontal lock operate, which ends annoying shakes and wobbles.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra can also be the primary Galaxy gadget to assist APV. This is a new professional-grade video codec designed to ship environment friendly compression for high-quality manufacturing workflows. It’s principally a characteristic designed for superior creators, guaranteeing visually lossless video high quality that continues to be true even after repeated modifying.

The Ultra’s cameras are good, but it’s value trying out our Xiaomi 17 Ultra review to search out a worthy competitor, as we’re not the one technology journalists raving concerning the photos that cellphone can shoot.

You nonetheless get the neat S Pen stylus tucked inside the S26 Ultra, the gadget is roofed in Gorilla Glass for added safety, and it’s totally water resistant.

Galaxy AI and Google’s Gemini assistant proceed to be baked in and offer a swathe of sensible options, similar to Now Nudge, which provides well timed and related solutions that pop up on the screen.

I’m nonetheless a little uncertain who actually wants or desires all this artificial intelligence, but issues similar to Circle to Search, Auto Erase for picture modifying and Samsung’s Now Brief – which exhibits knowledge about your day forward – are fairly helpful.

It’s nearly unimaginable to fault the S26 Ultra, and that is one other stellar flagship cellphone from Samsung.

If I had one gripe, it could be the shortage of magnets within the rear case.

Google adopted Apple final yr by bringing MagSafe-style technology to its newest Pixel 10 units. This makes it tremendous easy to connect to chargers or snap equipment to the rear of the gadget.

Google calls it Pixelsnap, and it’s a actual disgrace Samsung hasn’t joined the social gathering with a “Galaxy Snap” improve, because it’s genuinely helpful.

The solely different factor to notice is that costs have shot up this yr, which implies the S26 Ultra is now £1,279.

Shop round, and also you’ll discover the older S25 Ultra obtainable for beneath £900 – that’s about £400 much less for what remains to be an glorious smartphone.

So yes, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is an unimaginable gadget that I would fortunately advocate to anybody searching for a super-premium Android flagship.

It’s blisteringly fast, will get that intelligent screen, long battery life, cracking cameras and neat S Pen inside its shell.

Just remember that its headline Privacy Display improve does have its flaws, it’s not radically completely different from the S25 Ultra, and it’ll value you more than ever to buy.