- Samsung unveils Galaxy S26 series at Unpacked 2026.
- Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces built-in Privacy Display.
- Base and Plus models priced $100 higher.
- Devices available March 11 alongside Galaxy Buds 4.
Samsung Electronics launched the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra at its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event in San Francisco on Wednesday, and positioned the third-generation AI flagship line as the heart of a wider push into what CEO TM Roh described as effortless AI - functions that could be run quietly and silently in the background, without expertise from the user. Immediately after the event, pre-orders were available, and they were available generally as of March 11, 2026.
Galaxy S 26 Ultra: Display Privacy, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a Thinner Build
The main hardware introduction in the line is the world-first inbuilt Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra that regulates the light distribution in the pixels so that the screen is unable to be seen at an angle, and can be manually set on or off within individual apps or when typing a password.
The Ultra comes with a customised Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform to the Galaxy that provides the Ultra with CPU performance improvements of up to 19 per cent, a 39 per cent increase in NPU performance to perpetually running Galaxy AIs, and a 24 per cent increase in GPU performance.
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Super Fast Charging 3.0 is able to achieve a 75 per cent charge in 30 minutes. The S26 Ultra also has the first Advanced Professional Video (APV) coded phone and is capable of up capturing 8K at 30 fps at production level. It is powered by Android 16 on top of One UI 8.5 with 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB storage options starting at 1,299, which is the same price as the S25 Ultra.
Base and Plus Models have been raised by 100 dollars, 128GB Tier has been scrapped
Both Galaxy S26 and S26+ were priced higher by 100 dollars in comparison to the previous flagship phones of Samsung, as both phones are powered by slightly more expensive components and RAM, a first in Samsung history since the Galaxy S22. S26 has begun retailing at $899 256 GB (128 GB has been dropped throughout the product range), and S26+ has a starting point of 1099.
The two models have a 6.3-inch and 6.7-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X display respectively, 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and IP68 water resistance respectively. At the conference Roh formalized this view of AI as a range in one statement: We hold that AI must be something that can be relied upon in everyday life, and that it must operate systematically and reliably across the board, and without requiring special knowledge.
In the case of Galaxy S26 series, we aimed at ensuring that AI feels natural and works silently in the background to allow people to concentrate on important things.
Galaxy Buds 4 Series release with S26 March 11
Samsung has just introduced Galaxy Buds 4 Pro and Galaxy Buds 4 at the same time when the S26 series begins its sale on March 11. The Buds 4 Pro model has a more like a wider woofer, more audible Active Noise Cancellation and also a better Adaptive Equaliser.
Ikhyun Cho, VP of Samsung Mobile Enhancement R&D Team, stated that the design philosophy was uncompromising and offered consumers all day comfort without compromising audio performance since these are the most important thing to consumers.
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Pre-orders have already been made available on the official Samsung store and most of the major retailers like Amazon, who is currently offering pre-orders a 10 to 24 per cent discount and Samsung is offering trade-in credits of up to 900 dollars. Galaxy S26 models are all available, and so is the Buds 4 series.
