Tech

Samsung unveils Galaxy S26 series with built-in privacy screen

Ericson Mangoli February 26, 2026 3 min read

Samsung unveils Galaxy S26 series with built-in privacy screen

South Korea's tech giant delivers a hardware-first flagship with a pixel-level privacy display, faster charging, and expanded AI tools across three new devices. Photo credit: Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics has unveiled the Galaxy S26 series, a three-device flagship lineup headlined by a feature that sets it apart from the competition: a privacy screen built directly into the display panel of the S26 Ultra, eliminating the need for adhesive privacy films that consumers have relied on for years.

The announcement, made ahead of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, comes as Samsung faces stiffening competition from Apple, Google, and Chinese rivals in the premium smartphone segment.

Chip and charging upgrades

The S26 Ultra runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, co-developed with Qualcomm. Samsung says the chip handles AI background tasks 39% faster, improves graphics performance by 24%, and boosts general processing by 19% over the previous generation. A redesigned cooling system reduces thermal throttling during sustained use.

Charging has also improved. The Ultra reaches 75% in 30 minutes on a 65W wired connection. The S26+ hits 69% in the same window on 45W, and the base S26 reaches 55% in 30 minutes on 25W. No charger is included in any of the boxes.

Cameras and video

The S26 Ultra keeps its four-camera setup: 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP 10x telephoto, and 10MP 3x telephoto. Wider apertures improve low-light performance across all lenses. Video creators gain support for the Advanced Photo Video codec — a professional format built for heavy editing workflows. Subsequent references to the format use the abbreviation APV. AI photo editing now accepts plain-language instructions, and edits can be reversed step by step.

The S26 and S26+ share a simpler three-camera arrangement: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3x telephoto.

The privacy screen explained

Unlike stick-on films, the S26 Ultra privacy display operates at the pixel level inside the panel itself. Side-on viewers see a blacked-out image while the user sees everything normally from straight ahead. Two modes are available — one that hides only notifications, another that blankets the full screen. The feature can be set to activate automatically when opening specific apps such as banking or messaging tools.

AI features and pricing

New AI tools include “Now Nudge,” which surfaces relevant content at the right moment, and “Now Brief,” a proactive daily digest of reservations and commitments. Users can set Google Gemini or Perplexity AI as their default AI agent. All three models run Android 16 with One UI 8.5 and carry IP68 water resistance ratings, with seven years of security updates promised.

In Kenya, the S26 Ultra is priced from KSh 171,400 for 256GB and KSh 197,300 for 512GB. The S26+ starts at KSh 144,400, while the base S26 begins at KSh 120,000. US pricing is expected in the USD 1,299–USD 1,399 range for the Ultra.

Ericson Mangoli

Staff writer at Kurunzi News.