The Galaxy S26 was the star of this week’s Unpacked event in San Francisco, but we also got some new earbuds and a whole lot of AI, of course.
The Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra arrive on March 11, and while they’re not a big departure from previous Samsung phone launches, they feature the upgraded specs and refinements we’ve come to expect from its yearly Android iterations. The company says the S26 devices are “AI phones” rather than smartphones to better highlight its Galaxy AI platform, along with improvements for shooting video, editing AI-generated images, watching videos, and planning your day with agentic features. Read on for all the details.
Privacy Display Gamechanger: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (left), Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 (Credit: James Peckham)
The Ultra is the best of the best from Samsung, unless you’re looking for a foldable phone. It features a 6.9-inch AMOLED QHD+ display with an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, down to 1Hz. All three S26 phones feature a more rounded, slimmer design and are available in four standard colors: Black, Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, and White. There are also online-exclusive colors of Silver Shadow and Pink Gold.
As PCMag’s Eric Zeman notes in his hands on, the Ultra model has had a different design from the standard and Plus models since the S22 series—blockier, with sharp corners where the other two have featured cleaner, rounded shapes. With the S26, “Samsung (literally) smoothed everything out for the Galaxy S26 phones, which have the same basic shapes and curves.”
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra First Look: The AI Powerhouse Plus a New Display
There’s a 5,000mAh battery and Super Fast Charging 3.0 tech that can take the device to 75% in 30 minutes with 60W charging. There’s also 25W wireless charging, but Samsung hasn’t shared how long it takes to recharge.
The rear cameras are impressive, with a 50MP ultra-wide paired with a 200MP shooter that Samsung says is 47% brighter than the last-gen model. It also has a 50MP telephoto shooter, which it says is 37% brighter than previous versions. Finally, there’s a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.
Samsung also includes an S Pen stylus with the phone, which doesn’t support Bluetooth. Samsung removed that feature on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, citing low user adoption.
You get 12GB of RAM alongside the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and the choice of 256GB or 512GB of space with 12GB of RAM, or 1TB of space with 16GB of RAM.
One of the most intriguing features on the S26 Ultra is its new Privacy Display. It uses two types of pixels to help shield what you’re looking at from those sitting next to you, making the display visible only from dead ahead. You can turn this on for select apps or keep it on for everything you do. The idea is that you may find it helpful on apps, such as banking services or messaging, that you may not want to share with strangers.
Galaxy S26 Ultra preorders are open now, starting at $1,299.99. It launches on March 11.
Goodbye 128GB Flagships: Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (left), Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 (Credit: James Peckham)
As in previous generations, the Galaxy S26 handsets are similar, with the same camera tech and internal specs, and most of the changes are in the display and battery. The Galaxy S26 features a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display at 411 pixels per inch, while the S26+ ups it to a 6.7-inch QHD+ display at 516 pixels per inch. Both feature adaptive refresh rate tech from 1 through to 120Hz, depending on what you’re viewing.
Samsung has done away with 128GB models for the S26 series, meaning you’ve got the choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. If you opt for either of these phones, you’re locked to 12GB of RAM, but that should be enough for most people. Both the S26 and S26+ run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset.
The cameras are the same across both devices: a 50MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP telephoto. Unlike the S26 Ultra, these feature only one telephoto camera, but they do sport the same 12MP front camera as the more expensive handset.
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The S26 features a 4,300mAh battery, which is increased to 4,900mAh on the larger phone. The S26+ features 45W wired charging and 20W wireless charging, while the S26 is limited to 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. Unlike the iPhone and Pixel, however, it doesn’t include magnetic charging. Here’s why that might matter to you.
For more, check out our comparison between the S26 and the Google Pixel 10, as well as Galaxy S26 vs. S26+ vs. S26 Ultra: How Do Samsung’s New Phones Compare?
You can preorder both phones now, ahead of the March 11 launch. The S26+ costs $1,099.99, and the S26 is $899.99.
Perplexity as Standard: New AI Improvements
There are many AI upgrades across the Galaxy S26 series, including support for Perplexity within its Galaxy AI assistant. Plus, the Perplexity app is also pre-loaded onto the phone as part of a deal with the popular AI service focused on real-time results.
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Each camera in the S26 series comes with more AI-focused improvements, including improved nightography, which PCMag’s Eric Zeman found “striking.”
He also tried a new Super Steady Video capture feature with horizon lock, which acts like a gimbal to reduce shaky videos. Zeman said, “On-site, a Samsung rep spun the phone 360 degrees around, and the horizon in the resulting footage remained perfectly level. It takes practice to get results this good using a gimbal. These phones are going to breed a new wave of action videographers.”
Galaxy Unpacked: Samsung Goes All-In on AI
Other features include Audio Eraser to make voices clearer by reducing background noise in video, Creative Studio improvements to add AI image editing changes via an additional prompt, and a new organization feature for screenshots.
Samsung is also expanding its Now-branded features with Now Nudge, which gives you real-time suggestions based on message context. For example, if someone asks to meet up in a text message, you may find that Now Nudge will suggest a time that works within your calendar. Other similar features include improvements to Now Brief and Now Bar to expand personalized updates based on your habits.
Samsung has yet to confirm which of these Galaxy AI improvements will be available on older phones. It also doesn’t appear to charge for these features, but the brand has previously noted that it may do so in the future.
Volume Up: Galaxy Buds4 Pro and Galaxy Buds4
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 4 (left) and Galaxy Buds 4 (Credit: James Peckham)
The only accessories announced at Galaxy Unpacked were two new pairs of headphones. The Galaxy Buds4 Pro are canal-type earbuds with what Samsung calls a new, even more comfortable design, while the Galaxy Buds4 are open-type earbuds. Both come in either black or white with matching charging cases.
The Buds4 feature an 11mm Dynamic Speaker, while the Buds 4 Pro opt for an 11mm Super Wide Woofer paired with a 5.5mm Planar Tweeter. In PCMag’s brief testing, we found them to offer excellent noise cancellation, calling them the perfect accessory for other Samsung devices. If you don’t own a Samsung phone, though, you may find select features aren’t as helpful.
The Buds4Pro ($249.99) and Buds4 ($179.99) are available for preorder now.
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