Samsung S26 Ultra Leads Galaxy S26 Lineup as Samsung Lifts Prices and Doubles Down on AI

At Galaxy Unpacked in San Francisco on Wednesday, the company unveiled a new S26 series and a pair of earbuds while pushing AI features and raising base prices. The new flagship, the samsung s26 ultra, anchors a three-phone lineup and brings a slate of hardware and software updates that Samsung says are iterative but focused on privacy and on-device intelligence.

Samsung S26 Ultra specs and flagship hardware

The Samsung S26 Ultra arrives as the flagship of the three-phone Galaxy S26 series, featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a 6. 9-inch QHD+ display, and a 5, 000 mAh battery. Samsung highlighted fast charging capability: the phone can charge from 0% to 75% in 30 minutes when used with a 60W charger. The S26 Ultra also supports the S-Pen stylus.

Camera hardware retains the same pixel counts as the previous model but adjusts optics: the wide camera remains 200 megapixels and the telephoto remains 50 megapixels; the wide lens now has a larger aperture of f/1. 4 and the telephoto lens an aperture of f/2. 9. These camera and battery claims are presented by Samsung as the headline hardware differentiators for the Samsung S26 Ultra.

Pricing and how the Galaxy S26 series compares

The Galaxy S26 family includes three models: Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26 Plus, and Galaxy S26. Samsung set starting prices higher across the board: the Galaxy S26 starts at $899, $100 more than last year’s model; the Galaxy S26 Plus starts at $1, 099, also $100 more than its predecessor; and the Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1, 200. The three models are described as iterative updates compared with their predecessors.

All three phones use the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor in Samsung’s presentation, but Samsung noted it will use its own Exynos 2600 processor for the two non-Ultra devices in some geographies. The smaller Galaxy S26 received a battery bump from last year’s phone, and the S26 Plus adds 20W wireless charging as a distinguishable feature.

Display privacy features added to the Galaxy S26 series

Samsung introduced a display privacy update for the S26 lineup intended to prevent people nearby from reading the screen. Users can choose to hide specific parts of the display—examples given include the notification area or the password field on login forms—or hide the entire screen. The privacy display can be configured per app.

In addition, Samsung described a “maximum privacy protection” mode that tones down bright areas and lifts dark parts of the screen as part of the phone’s privacy toolkit.

Galaxy AI, multiple assistants, and Google demos

AI was a major theme at the event. Samsung highlighted that its smartphones now ship with three AI assistants: Bixby, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. Galaxy AI features include call screening plus a summary of what a caller says.

Google made two notable announcements during the presentation: a preview of an agentic version of Gemini that can perform tasks on a user’s behalf—examples shown include hailing a cab from Uber—and an updated Circle to Search that uses multi-object recognition to search for highlighted items on the display. Samir Samat, head of Android ecosystem at Google, demonstrated Gemini analyzing a group chat to determine a meal order and placing that order on Grubhub.

Samsung also described a partnership with Perplexity to pre-load that company’s app on its smartphones and use Perplexity’s APIs to handle actions such as setting alarms, taking notes, and powering the device browser’s search capabilities.

New Galaxy Buds4 and Buds4 Pro earbuds

Alongside the S26 phones, Samsung unveiled two new earphones: Galaxy Buds4 and Galaxy Buds4 Pro. Both models adopt a flatter stem design compared with their predecessors. The Buds models carry IP ratings—IP54 and IP57—that Samsung presented as meaning they are somewhat protected from dust and water.

Separately, the event messaging included promotional copy about event-related registration savings: a Super Early Bird rate offering up to $680 off a Disrupt 2026 pass, with that promotion ending February 27. This promotional detail appeared alongside the product announcements.

The Galaxy Unpacked presentation emphasized iterative hardware upgrades, expanded on-device and companion AI capabilities, and showed tighter ecosystem ties through partnerships and preloads. Further specifics about regional processor choices, detailed camera performance, and broader availability were unclear in the provided context and may evolve.