Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Officially Unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked 2026
Samsung just took the stage today, Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at its Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco to officially unveil the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — the most anticipated Android flagship of the year. Here is everything confirmed and expected from the biggest Samsung launch since the S25 Ultra.
Galaxy Unpacked 2026: What Just Happened in San Francisco
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 5G was officially unveiled today, February 25, 2026, at Galaxy Unpacked in San Francisco. The event kicked off at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT and was streamed live on Samsung's YouTube channel, Samsung.com, and the Samsung Newsroom.
Samsung has officially confirmed at least three Samsung Galaxy S26 series devices at the event, including the S26 base, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra. The Galaxy S26 Ultra carries a 6.9-inch display, the S26 Plus a 6.7-inch screen, and the base model a 6.3-inch panel.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Price and Release Date
The base Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,299 for the 256GB configuration — unchanged from the S25 Ultra's launch price. The 512GB model is expected at $1,419 and the 1TB version at $1,659.
Pre-orders open the day after Galaxy Unpacked — Thursday, February 26 — with retail availability expected from March 11, 2026. Trade-in values of up to $900 are available for S24 Ultra and S25 Ultra owners, potentially bringing the out-of-pocket cost to around $500.
The Headline Feature: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display
The single most talked-about feature heading into today's event is the brand-new Privacy Display. Unlike software-based privacy filters that only dim the screen, Samsung's implementation is built directly into the hardware. The technology allows the screen to remain clear when viewed head-on, but makes it significantly harder to read when viewed from the side or from top or bottom.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra's Privacy Display causes the display to turn black when viewed from an angle. While it is confirmed that the effect can cover the entire screen, it remains to be seen whether it can be restricted to only certain areas.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Specs: Display, Chip and Camera
The Galaxy S26 Ultra features a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 2,600 nits peak brightness, and Corning Gorilla Glass Armor protection. The phone runs One UI 8.5 based on Android 16 out of the box, with seven years of OS updates guaranteed, extending support all the way to Android 23.
The camera setup includes a 200MP primary shooter, a 50MP ultrawide lens, a 50MP 5x telephoto camera, and a new 12MP 3x zoom camera. Samsung's next-generation ProVisual Engine promises improvements in dynamic range and low-light performance. The S Pen stylus is retained, though without Bluetooth connectivity this cycle.
Galaxy AI Gets a Major Upgrade on the S26 Ultra
One UI 8.5 debuts Circle to Search 2.0, Live Translate Pro, and Sketch to Image. Ultra-exclusive AI Pro tools include video b-roll generation. Samsung also confirmed contextual awareness upgrades to Bixby, alongside Google Gemini integration and new Perplexity AI support — including the ability to invoke the Perplexity agent using a "Hey Plex" keyword.
Battery, Charging and Performance
Samsung is not bringing a battery capacity upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. The battery remains at 5,000mAh, but wired charging is upgraded to 60W and wireless charging to 25W. Under the hood, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, paired with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.
