Samsung has just unveiled its new Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 Ultra variants within the S26 series, bringing a host of AI capabilities and the Ultra-exclusive Privacy Display.
Behold the Galaxy S26+ And Galaxy S26 Ultra
Physical Features
The Samsung Galaxy S26+ sports a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen, with a resolution of 1440 x 3120, a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and peak brightness of 3,000 nits vs. the 2600 nits on the last-gen Galaxy S25+ variant.
In contrast, the Galaxy S26 Ultra sports a 6.9-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X screen, with a resolution of 1440 x 3120, a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz, support for HDR10+, and a peak brightness of 2600 nits.
For the S26+, the display is protected by the Corning Gorilla Armor 2 glass, and is encapsulated within an overall frame that measures 158.4mm x 75.8mm x 7.3mm, which is just 0.1mm wider than the Galaxy S25+. In contrast, the Galaxy S26 Ultra sports an aluminum frame that measures 163.6mm x 78.1mm x 7.9mm.
Of course, the most visible design change for the Galaxy S26 series relates to the rear camera setup, which is now housed within a dedicated camera island, dubbed the ambient island. Also, as was the case with the base Galaxy S26, the Galaxy S26+ will not get the much-anticipated Privacy Display, which features Samsung's Flex Magic Pixel OLED technology and remains exclusive to the Ultra variant.
Basically, when switched on, the liquid crystal layer embedded within the device's display instantly changes state, causing a sudden shift in its refractive index. This transition then prevents visibility from lateral viewing angles, enabling what Samsung now calls its Privacy Display feature for the S26 Ultra.
The devices are now available in Cobalt Violet, White, Black, and Sky Blue options, as well as Samsung.com-exclusive Pink Gold and Silver Shadow options.
Internals
The Galaxy S26+ sports either the Samsung Exynos 2600 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as the SoC, depending on the region. On the other hand, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 exclusively.
As a recap, the Exynos 2600 is Samsung's first SoC that leverages its 2nm GAA process, and sports a 10-core architecture:
- 1x C1-Ultra core running at 3.80GHz
- 3x C1-Pro cores running at 3.25GHz
- 6x C1-Pro cores running at 2.75GHz
- Samsung Xclipse 960 GPU (based on AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture) with ray-tracing support
- AI Engine with 32K Mac Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and a 39 percent performance boost
- LPDDR5X RAM support
The Galaxy S26 Ultra's revamped cooling chamber and a tailored thermal interface material (TIM) deliver a 21 percent improvement in thermal performance.
Also, both smartphones sport a 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of base storage (Ultra's 1TB variant has 16GB of RAM). They also feature Wi-Fi 7 (be), Bluetooth 5.4, UWB, a 5G modem, and support for satellite-based connectivity.
Do note that the Galaxy S26+ retains the 4,900mAh lithium-ion battery of its predecessor, with support for wireless charging at 25W - the last-gen S25+ supported wireless charging at 15W - and wired charging at 45W. On the other hand, the S26 Ultra sports a 5,000mAh battery, with the entire battery capable of getting to the 75 percent charged level in around 30 minutes with Fast Charging 3.0, courtesy of its support for 60W wired charging. The Ultra also supports 25W of wireless charging.
On both smartphones, the selfie camera sports a 12MP wide-angle sensor, replete with HDR support and capable of recording 4K videos at both 30 and 60fps.
The rear triple-camera setup on the S26+ features:
- A 50MP main sensor
- A 10MP telephoto sensor
- A 12MP ultra-wide sensor
The rear camera setup on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is as follows:
- A 12MP selfie camera
- A 10MP 3x telephoto camera
- A 200MP main camera
- A 50MP ultrawide sensor
- A 50MP 5x periscope camera
The camera setup on the Galaxy S26 Ultra delivers improved low-light photography, thanks to a wider aperture for both its 200MP primary camera and 50MP telephoto camera. The smartphone's "Super Steady" mode works by using real-time gyro and accelerometer data to lock the horizon.
The Ultra also brings:
- An Advanced Video Professional (AVP) codec that allows users to capture RAW videos with a higher bitrate and more granular details, enabling greater flexibility in the post-production phase.
- Improvements to the AI ISP - via the new Digital Natural Image engine (mDNIe) - will no longer turn skin tones yellow in images.
- The Camera Assistant app will allow users to reduce harsh details, yielding a softer, more natural-looking photo.
- With the upgraded and more powerful Photo Assist feature, users can simply describe what they want to change in a given image in natural language. For instance, you can change the scene from day to night, or restore missing parts of objects.
Software Features
The Galaxy S26+ and S26 Ultra sport the all-new OneUI 8.5, which is based on Android 16 and features a revamped Bixby, vibrant icons, and a 3D depth effect created through shadows and gradients.
Expert RAW app
- The app uses computational photography to create multi-frame RAW files, resulting in a higher dynamic range and more detailed images.
- You can adjust ISO, shutter speed, exposure, focus (with focus peaking), and white balance across all camera lenses, including the telephoto and the ultra-wide.
- It saves uncompressed image data in 16-bit linear DNG files that preserve a massive amount of detail.
Samsung is turning Galaxy AI into an orchestration layer of sorts within a multi-agent AI ecosystem:
- A revamped Bixby that understands natural language for complex device controls and supports real-time web search within its own interface.
- Google's Gemini with support for Gemini Live, Circle to Search, and Nano Banana image generation tool.
- Perplexity AI as the third agent of choice. To activate Perplexity on your Galaxy S26, simply say, "Hey Plex."
Here are all of the other AI features coming to the base Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra:
- AI-Powered Screenshot Analyzer.
- Automatic Call Screener - Galaxy AI identifies unknown numbers and suspected spam calls and answers them for you, while giving you live summaries of what they said on your screen.
- Privacy Alerts - The feature notifies users in real time when apps with administrative privileges try to cross boundaries.
- Now Nudge - Cross-app suggestions are now active. For instance, if a friend wants to see photos of your overseas trip, Galaxy AI automatically suggests photos from your gallery.
- Now Brief - This feature suggests timely reminders for various events, including reservations, travel changes, and more.
- Legacy features such as Private Album, Seamless actions across apps, ProScaler imaging, Audio Eraser, and Audio Trim are still supported.
Pricing & Availability
You can get the Galaxy S26+ (256GB) for $1,099. The 512GB variant would set you back by $1,299. You can also get the 256GB version of the Galaxy S26 Ultra for $1,299, the 512GB one for $1,499, and the 1TB one for $1,799. Pre-orders are live now, with store-based deliveries available from March 11.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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