Samsung Unveils Galaxy S26 Series: The Most Intuitive Galaxy AI Phone Yet
With powerful hardware working together with an industry-leading camera system and intuitive AI experiences, everyday tasks have never been easier and faster
2/25/2026
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the Galaxy S26 series, powered by the most intuitive, proactive, and adaptive Galaxy AI1 experiences yet and designed to simplify everyday tasks. From managing plans and finding information to capturing and refining content, the Galaxy S26 series reduces the number of steps required to get things done. As Samsung’s latest AI phones, Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 handle complex tasks in the background, allowing users to focus on results.
The Galaxy S26 series was engineered with Samsung’s most advanced capabilities working together as one: incredible performance, an industry-leading camera system, and Galaxy AI. This provides a strong foundation that gives Galaxy S26 users confidence in their phone.
Building on Samsung’s decades of innovation in display technology, Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces the world’s first built-in Privacy Display2 for mobile phones to unlock a new class of display experiences and reinforce Samsung’s commitment to privacy at a pixel level. Galaxy S26 Ultra also delivers a customized chipset and upgraded thermal management that enable more powerful AI experiences — all wrapped up in the slimmest Ultra yet.
“We believe AI should be something people can depend on every day, it should be designed to work consistently for everyone, without the need for expertise,” said TM Roh, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Head of Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics. “With the Galaxy S26 series, we focused on making AI feel effortless, working quietly in the background so people can focus on what matters.”
Powerful Performance Designed Around Everyday Use
Engineered for long-lasting battery life, the Galaxy S26 series is built on the most powerful hardware ever on a Galaxy S series and is powered by a customized chipset. Across the lineup, the Galaxy S26 series is engineered for AI performance, power efficiency, and thermal management, ensuring demanding tasks run smoothly and consistently so users can rely on their device when it matters.
On Galaxy S26 Ultra, a customized mobile processor — Snapdragon® 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy3 — delivers powerful performance with significant gains across CPU, GPU, and NPU to support faster, smoother experiences throughout the day.
A CPU performance increase of up to 19%4 means Galaxy S26 Ultra responds more quickly and can handle complex workloads intelligently, even when multiple tasks are running at once. A 39% improvement in NPU performance powers always-on Galaxy AI features that run seamlessly, so users can move between tasks without lag or interruption. A 24% boost in GPU performance delivers richer visuals and more fluid gameplay.
To sustain this level of performance, Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces a redesigned Vapor Chamber with thermal interface material positioned along the sides of the processor, allowing heat to spread more efficiently across a larger surface area. This improves heat dissipation, to keep the device cool and consistent, even during demanding activities such as gaming, multitasking, and video capture. To support all-day use, Galaxy S26 Ultra also brings Super-Fast Charging 3.0,5 minimizing downtime by reaching up to a 75% charge in just 30 minutes.6

Embedded into the processor, Samsung’s proprietary technologies enhance visual performance. ProScaler7 on Galaxy S26 Ultra and Plus improves image scaling so photos and videos appear richer and clearer at a glance by sharpening text and fine detail while smoothing textures. Additionally, Samsung’s mobile Digital Natural Image engine (mDNIe) delivers more subtle and lifelike colors thanks to improved image processing.
Taken together, these advancements deliver dependable all-day performance, making every action feel effortless.
Galaxy’s Industry Leading Camera System
With an approach that integrates content capture, editing, and sharing into a single, seamless experience, creativity feels more natural and accessible even without professional tools or technical knowledge.
On Galaxy S26 Ultra, wider camera apertures allow more light to reach the sensor, delivering clearer photos with richer details in low-light conditions, even when zoomed in. Enhanced Nightography Video keeps footage clearer and more vibrant in dim scenes, whether capturing concerts indoors or recording moments around a campfire after sunset. Video capture is further enhanced with upgraded Super Steady capabilities, which add a horizontal lock option for more stability and make consistent framing easier to achieve, even with bumpy trails or fast-paced activities. Galaxy S26 Ultra is the first Galaxy device to support APV, a new professional-grade video codec designed to deliver efficient compression for high-quality production workflows. Optimized for advanced creators, it ensures visually lossless video quality that stays true even after repeated editing.
Improvements to the AI ISP now extend to the selfie camera, capturing more natural skin tones and finer detail in mixed lighting.
Editing photos and videos is just as easy and straightforward, with AI-powered tools built into familiar workflows so users can make changes quickly and unlock their creativity without design expertise.

With the upgraded Photo Assist8 suite, users can simply describe what they want to change in their own words. Changing the scene from day to night is just a matter of asking. It can also add to images and restore missing elements like a bite taken out of a cake. Personal details, such as a stain, can be cleaned up with Galaxy AI’s new ability to change outfits in photos. Edits can now be made continuously, reviewed step by step, and easily adjusted or undone along the way, making the process feel fluid rather than final.
Creative Studio builds on this simplicity by bringing creation and customization into one integrated space, making it easy to act on ideas when inspiration strikes. Starting from a sketch, photo, or prompt, users can quickly turn ideas into polished visuals — from stickers and invitations to personalized wallpapers — and refine or share them without switching tools or interrupting creative flow.
The Galaxy S26 series also simplifies frequent visual tasks with AI-powered tools like Document Scan, which quickly removes distortions and distractions such as creases or fingers to deliver clean scans. Multiple images can be organized automatically into a single PDF, making it easy to digitize receipts, forms, or notes.


Simplify Your Day With Galaxy AI
The Galaxy S26 series is designed to make frequently used experiences feel straightforward and user-friendly, with Galaxy AI reducing the steps between intent and action. It works more proactively and seamlessly on the user’s behalf based on context, surfacing the right support at the right moment, and automating tasks with minimal manual input. As the technology handles tasks in the background, users can focus on the results.

With Now Nudge,9 timely and relevant suggestions10 help users avoid distractions. If a friend asks for photos from a recent trip to New York,11 Galaxy S26 automatically suggests photos from the Gallery, removing the need to search through albums or switch between apps.
On the Galaxy S26 series, Now Brief12 has become more proactive and personalized. It surfaces timely reminders for important events — from reservations to travel updates — based on personal context, helping users stay organized throughout the day.
Searching for information is also easier than ever. Circle to Search with Google13 on the Galaxy S26 series has been upgraded with enhanced multi-object recognition, so users can now explore more deeply on multiple parts of an image at once. If users spot a look they love, the feature also identifies everything from the jacket to the shoes, all in one search.
The Galaxy S26 series features an upgraded Bixby14 as a conversational device agent, making it more intuitive and easier than ever to interact with Galaxy devices. Users can navigate their devices and adjust settings using natural language, without the need for exact terminology or commands.
Alongside Bixby, the Galaxy S26 series integrates a choice of agents, including Gemini15 and Perplexity.16 Once set up, tasks can be completed with a single button press or voice prompt. Galaxy S26 can also handle multi-step tasks in the background, streamlining the process on the user’s behalf. For example, with Gemini, booking a taxi17 is as simple as asking, reviewing the details, and tapping confirm. These agents support tasks such as searching and carrying out complex tasks seamlessly across apps through natural interaction.
Together, these proactive, personalized, and adaptive experiences lay the foundation for more agentic AI experiences — setting the stage for Galaxy devices to become trusted companions that understand and anticipate user needs.
The Most Intuitive Galaxy AI Experience Yet
As mobile experiences become more personalized thanks to AI, protecting user privacy becomes even more critical. Samsung builds protection into every layer of Galaxy S26, keeping personal data secure while giving users transparency and control over how their information is used.
Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces privacy at the pixel level with the mobile industry’s first built-in Privacy Display, a breakthrough in display technology that fundamentally changes how privacy can be protected on a phone. Designed for everyday situations like transit, cafés, and shared environments, Privacy Display goes beyond anything previously available on mobile devices — hardware and software working as one to protect privacy and customize the experience without compromising the user’s view.

By controlling how pixels disperse light, the display keeps content clear, bright, and comfortable for the user, while limiting what others can see. Unlike traditional stick-on privacy films, Galaxy’s integrated Privacy Display preserves full viewing quality from all directions when off, and limits visibility for others from side viewing angles when activated,18 even when switching between portrait and landscape orientation.
Users can customize when it turns on — such as when entering PINs, patterns, and passwords or opening selected apps — and adjust privacy levels depending on the situation. Partial Screen Privacy limits visibility for notification pop-ups, while Maximum Privacy Protection further obscures side views for added discretion, all with minimal impact on power or usability.
The Galaxy S26 series also features smarter software safeguards that work quietly in the background. AI-powered Call Screening19 identifies unknown callers and summarizes why they called, making it easier to safely manage calls. Privacy Alerts uses machine learning to proactively notify users in real time when apps with device admin privileges unnecessarily attempt to access sensitive data, such as precise location, call logs, or contacts. These alerts help users quickly understand when apps are seeking deeper access, so they can manage permissions with greater clarity and control.
Private Album, built directly into Gallery, lets users easily hide selected photos and videos without creating a separate folder or signing into a Samsung Account. To stay ahead of emerging threats, the Galaxy S26 series also extends Samsung’s innovation in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to critical system processes, including software verification and firmware protection, strengthening device integrity for the future.
New updates to Knox Matrix further strengthen protection across connected Galaxy devices, adding PQC-enabled end-to-end encryption for more services such as eSIM transfers and clearer visibility into firmware update status across the ecosystem through Security Status of Your Devices.
These experiences are supported by Samsung Knox, the multi-layer security platform that protects Galaxy devices from the chip-level up. For on-device Galaxy AI, the Personal Data Engine (PDE)20 enables context-aware, personalized AI experiences. To keep this process safe, Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection (KEEP) encrypts each app’s data, while Knox Vault adds a physical layer of protection that isolates sensitive data inside its own secure hardware. Together with settings that let users personalize AI experiences, the Galaxy S26 series combines hardware and software to deliver a comprehensive, system-wide approach designed to keep personal data protected.
These updates build on Galaxy’s existing security and privacy portfolio, which includes Auto Blocker, Theft Protection, Private Sharing, Secure Wi-Fi, and more. These layers of protection are designed to give users greater transparency, choice, and control through Samsung’s continued mobile security innovation in the age of AI. And with seven years of security updates,21 the Galaxy S26 series helps keep these layers resilient over time — supporting longer, more confident use well into the years ahead.
Galaxy S26’s ease of use continues even when the phone is out of reach. The new Galaxy Buds4 series22 is a natural companion to Galaxy S26, extending everyday experiences beyond the phone while delivering rich and immersive hi-fi sound. When Galaxy S26 is paired with Galaxy Buds4, interactions can continue naturally while hands free. Users can activate AI agents with their voice, manage calls through simple Head Gestures23 on Buds4 Pro, and stay connected without breaking concentration.
Availability & Offers
Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 are available for pre-order today at Amazon Stores, Best Buy, Samsung Experience Stores, Samsung.com, and from carriers nationwide, with general availability starting March 11, 2026. For a limited time: Save up to $900 with eligible instant trade-in credit24 or $150 without trade-in to use towards other eligible devices when you pre-order on Samsung.com.25
The Galaxy S26 series features a unified design language across all models, with shared color options including Cobalt Violet, White, Black, and Sky Blue, alongside Samsung.com exclusives: Pink Gold and Silver Shadow.
Galaxy S26 Ultra includes 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options26 with pricing starting at $1,299.99. Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 feature 256GB and 512GB storage options with Galaxy S26+ starting at $1,099.99 and Galaxy S26 starting at $899.99.
For added peace of mind, Samsung Care+ offers comprehensive coverage optimized to users’ device needs, including fast repairs for accidental damage,27 extended warranty, and certified expert support available both at home and abroad. This ensures a seamless mobile lifestyle and provides lasting protection that safeguards the value of Galaxy devices.
Test out some of the latest features unveiled today with Try Galaxy — even if you don’t have a Samsung Galaxy device.
For more information on Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26+, or Galaxy S26, please visit: Samsung US Newsroom, or Samsung.com.



