Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra debuts built-in privacy display

Samsung has introduced a built-in privacy display feature on its new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, allowing users to limit off-angle visibility at the press of a button rather than relying on external screen protectors.

According to Samsung, the feature works by using two sets of pixels within the display: one projects the image directly towards the viewer (narrow pixel), while another distributes light to the sides for wider viewing angles (wide pixel). When the wide pixels are disabled, the screen appears largely unchanged to the person holding the device but significantly dimmer from adjacent angles. An additional setting further reduces contrast for those viewing from the side, making on-screen text difficult to read. 

Samsung has integrated customisation options into the system. Users can choose to obscure only certain elements, such as pop-up notifications, or configure the privacy mode to activate automatically when entering a PIN or opening specific applications. The feature can also be linked to routines, enabling it to switch on or off based on location.

Beyond the display, the Samsung S26 Ultra represents an incremental hardware update. The device is slightly thinner and lighter than its predecessor, measuring 7.9mm thick and weighing 214 grams, compared with 8.2mm and 218 grams previously. The company has returned to an aluminium frame from titanium. The design aligns more closely with the rest of the S26 range, removing the angular styling associated with earlier Note-branded models. Magnets are not built into the handset itself but are instead incorporated into official cases.

Camera hardware has also been updated. The 200-megapixel main camera now features an f/1.4 aperture, widened from f/1.7, while the 50-megapixel 5x telephoto lens shifts from f/3.4 to f/2.9. The brighter lenses are intended to improve low-light performance by allowing more light to reach the sensor.

All versions of the S26 Ultra will ship globally with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, customised for Samsung. The starting price remains at $1,299 for the 256 GB storage model with 12 GB of RAM, unchanged from last year.