Galaxy S26 Ultra Hands-On: "S" Is For Secret
MrMobile (Michael Fischer) hands-on with Galaxy S26 Ultra: Privacy Display is a genuine hardware breakthrough but task automation AI failed live on camera.
- Galaxy S26 Ultra lacks MagSafe-style magnets; Samsung’s stated reason is 98% of customers use cases
- Privacy Display blacks out the screen past ~15° off-axis and is software-controlled per-pixel, not a physical filter
- Privacy Display can selectively blank regions (e.g., notification bubbles) while keeping rest of screen visible
- S26 Ultra charges at 60W wired (0 to 75% in ~30 min) and 25W wireless, up from 15W last year; battery stays at 5,000 mAh
- Samsung/Google task automation (book Uber via voice) failed repeatedly during hands-on demo; AI admitted it lacked the feature mid-demo
- Main and telephoto cameras get larger apertures for low-light video; ultrawide gets no improvement
- 360° video stabilization added; S Pen unchanged from S25 Ultra with no new connected features
- Price is $1,299; pre-orders open at launch, deliveries expected March 11; aluminum replaces titanium
2026-02-26 · Watch on YouTube