Recently Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy S26 series, marking its boldest leap yet into the AI era with proactive, intuitive mobile AI. Punted as Samsung’s “most adaptive Galaxy AI experience ever,” the new lineup follows the expected convention of including a Galaxy S26, S26+ and top of the range S26 Ultra, each varying slightly in screen size and RAM. What they have in common though is that each are focused around simplifying daily tasks by doing more in the background, letting users focus on results rather than the technology powering them.

TM Roh, President and Head of Samsung’s Device eXperience division, said the company designed the S26 series so that “AI feels effortless… working quietly in the background so people can focus on what matters.”

Performance Built for an AI‑Driven World

The company asserted that at the heart of the S26 series is Samsung’s most powerful Galaxy hardware to date. The flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra is equipped with the customised Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, which the company explained delivers major performance gains — including a 19% CPU boost, 39% better NPU (critical for on‑device AI), and a 24% GPU uplift for richer gaming and smoother visuals. This is notable, given the exceedingly strong performance of the S25 Ultra and the S24 before it (which still hold up to demanding tasks).

To keep everything cool under pressure, Samsung explained that it has redesigned the Ultra’s Vapor Chamber, spreading heat more efficiently across a larger surface area. The Ultra also supports Super‑Fast Charging 3.0, reaching up to 75% battery in just 30 minutes.

Samsung’s own ProScaler and mDNIe technologies further refine visual output, enhancing clarity, texture and colour accuracy, which should address gamers, media consumers and photographers.

A Smarter, More Capable Camera System

In my interview with Justin Hume, the Vice President of Mobile Experience for Samsung South Africa, he pointed out to me that conventionally the main selling point of a phone, and what users look at first when buying a new phone, is the strength of its camera system. With that in mind, Samsung is claiming that the S26 series boasts its best Galaxy camera system yet. The company explained the wider apertures on the S26 Ultra let in more light, dramatically improving clarity and colour accuracy in low‑light photography and zoomed‑in shots.

Nightography Video has been enhanced for clearer, more vibrant footage in dim scenes, while upgraded Super Steady now introduces horizontal lock for better stabilisation during fast‑paced activity. The Ultra also becomes Samsung’s first device to support APV, a new pro‑grade video codec offering high‑quality, edit‑friendly footage with efficient compression.

AI improvements extend to selfies too, with upgraded ISP delivering more natural skin tones and refined details.

Editing gets smarter, thanks to the upgraded Photo Assist suite. Users can now describe edits in natural language — whether that is to change the time of day of a photo, restore missing object details, insert people or pets into photos when they weren’t actually there, even cleaning spills or adjusting outfits. While it may be creative and fun, it does raise the question of whether the camera does in fact lie, and also whether it helps the proliferation of faked content. Samsung answered that by noting that all content modified with its AI tools will be watermarked as such.

Even so, I suspect just how good AI is becoming at generating or modifying images is radically and permanently redefining how we think about photography and image capture.  For creators though, the new Creative Studio, which consolidates sketching, prompting, editing and export tools into a single workspace, will likely be a boon, and help streamline their process.

Everyday Tasks, Now Even Easier

Samsung’s AI ambitions shine most clearly in everyday usability, and this, to my mind, is really where the S series excels and sets itself apart from the competition. The S26 introduces Now Nudge — a contextual helper that jumps in when needed. If someone asks for photos, the phone automatically suggests the relevant gallery images. When a message mentions a meeting, it checks your calendar for conflicts.

Now Brief becomes more personalised and proactive, offering context‑specific suggestions such as workout playlists or timely reminders.

Search gets a major upgrade too: Circle to Search with Google now recognises multiple objects simultaneously, letting users dive deeper into an image — from identifying clothing items to exploring entire looks in a single gesture.

Galaxy S26 devices also integrate multiple agents including Bixby, Gemini and Perplexity, letting users trigger multi‑step tasks with a simple press or voice prompt. Booking rides, searching apps and adjusting settings all become conversational and frictionless.

Privacy Reinvented, Right Down to the Pixels

So far, so good, but here is where Samsung really flexed and showed the major innovation it is introducing on the new devices. The Galaxy S26 Ultra debuts the industry’s first built‑in Privacy Display, which is hardware‑level protection that controls light dispersion to limit side‑angle visibility while keeping content crisp for the user.

Users can customise privacy modes, from discreet notification shielding to maximum side‑view blocking, which a huge step up from traditional adhesive privacy films. For example, users of the S26 can choose for the privacy filter to just shield out notifications, or one part of a screen, rather than applying it to the whole screen. They can also enable all of their screen to be visible from side angles, or none of it.

The company explained that with AI‑powered experiences becoming more personalised, Samsung is doubling down on privacy, and Hume noted to me that this a feature regular travellers working on sensitive information, or just receiving alerts containing banking info, would likely benefit from.

The series also introduces smarter background protections such as AI‑powered Call Screening, real‑time Privacy Alerts, and an enhanced Private Album within the Gallery.

Security receives an upgrade too, with Samsung expanding its post‑quantum cryptography (PQC) protections across critical system processes and extending Knox Matrix’s encrypted device‑to‑device transfers.

First Impressions

At an exclusive media event we were allowed to go hands on with the devices and get some first impressions. On one hand, it is quintessentially Samsung – a slick and familiar interface, superbly well built, lighter than the previous S series, and very desirable. The new phones though, have even more rounded corners (slightly) than the S25, and gone is the boxier shape of the S24.

Personally, I prefer the sophisticated all-business look of the S24 series, which still boasted squared off corners, and where the screen looked fractionally larger because of it. That said, for those not opting for a case, or a minimal one at that, the rounded corners sit more comfortably in the palm and make the devices look more trendy, and something that will feel very familiar to those jumping ship from iPhone to Samsung. I did not unfortunately get to test the privacy display or the performance gains side by side with a previous generation.

Where I did notice a major departure and radical change is on the accompanying Buds 4 Pro, which are much sleeker, more comfortable for those with smaller ear canals, and less overt than the Buds 3 Pro or Buds 3.    

Samsung explained that the new Galaxy Buds4 line integrates deeply with the phones, offering hands‑free control of AI agents, call management via head gestures (on Buds4 Pro), and seamless interactions when the phone isn’t in hand. Being within the ecosystem, predictably, brings greater value.

In my interview with him Hume noted that when users buy just a smartphone, the customer retention rate is around 67%. If they buy a device and a watch, the likelihood of them staying with the brand jumps to between 83% and 85%. If, however, they start expanding further into the ecosystem with a smartphone, watch, and tablet or PC, that retention rate jumps to 97%.

This does beg the question whether brands could do more to reward customers for having multiples of its products, and investing in their ecosystem by, for example, offering more enticing discounts on accessories like their watch for those users that already have a smartphone and headphones/earbuds, TV or tablet from their product line.

As always though, the bottom line is price.

Pre‑orders for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, S26+ and S26 are currently open and will be open until 19 March 2026. Pre‑order customers can double their storage and save up to R5,000.

Colour options include Cobalt Violet, White, Black and Sky Blue.

Pricing starts at:

• Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB): R30,999
• Galaxy S26+ (256GB): R25,999
• Galaxy S26 (256GB): R20,999

Samsung Care+, which is definitely worthwhile, is available from a once‑off R799, offering accidental damage protection, extended warranty and fast repairs both locally and internationally.

Should you upgrade?

For those who already have  a Samsung phone, the answer to whether you should upgrade is, I think going to come down to the privacy screen and how much of an incentive that is.

If you are a regular traveler and keeping your screen safe from prying eyes, that is a feature you wont find on previous entries. And if you are a content creator or heavy AI user, then I think the performance gains may also justify trading in an existing device for the latest S26 series.

If you aren't though, and are still very happy with the performance from your  existing S24/S25, then a solid argument can be made for waiting. With the rollout of One UI 8.5 impending, those who are still on the S24 and S25 may want to wait a bit until the latest update comes to their devices, and how that extends its functionality, before deciding whether they want to go the upgrade route. Based on my limited hands on time, I feel confident saying that oneone who does take the leap to the S26 line will not be disappointed.