The new Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra mark Samsung’s third generation of AI-first smartphones, but unlike earlier iterations where AI felt like an add-on, here it is embedded into the everyday flow of using a phone. Managing plans, searching for information, editing content, refining photos, all of it is designed to require fewer taps and less effort. The idea is simple: let the phone handle the complexity quietly in the background.
At the centre of it all is the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung is positioning this as its most complete flagship yet, combining performance, camera capability and on-device AI into one tightly integrated system. The headline hardware story is the customised Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, tuned specifically for the S26 Ultra. Samsung claims up to 19 percent faster CPU performance, a 39 percent jump in NPU power for AI tasks, and a 24 percent GPU uplift for graphics and gaming.
What matters more than the percentages is how it translates. The phone is built to handle multiple heavy tasks at once without feeling strained, and the always-on Galaxy AI features are meant to operate without lag. To keep things stable, Samsung has redesigned the vapor chamber and improved heat dissipation, clearly acknowledging that sustained performance matters more than short bursts.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra series
Charging also gets a push. With Super Fast Charging 3.0, the S26 Ultra can reach up to 75 percent in 30 minutes, aiming to reduce downtime rather than just inflate battery specs.
One of the more interesting additions is the built-in Privacy Display on the S26 Ultra, which Samsung calls the world’s first of its kind in a smartphone. The focus here is pixel-level privacy, reinforcing the company’s narrative that AI power should not come at the cost of security.
On the display and visual side, Samsung is leaning into refinement. ProScaler improves image scaling to sharpen text and fine detail, while the upgraded mobile Digital Natural Image engine enhances colour precision compared to the previous generation. It is less about dramatic change and more about incremental polish.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Display
Cameras remain central to the Galaxy story. On the S26 Ultra, wider apertures allow more light in for improved low-light photography. Nightography Video has been enhanced to keep footage clearer in dim scenes, whether indoors or outdoors at night. Super Steady video now adds a horizontal lock option, which should help with framing during movement-heavy shots.
For serious creators, the S26 Ultra introduces APV, a new professional-grade video codec designed for efficient compression without sacrificing visual quality, even after multiple edits. That signals Samsung’s continued ambition to serve advanced users, not just casual shooters.
The AI ISP improvements now extend to the selfie camera as well, promising more natural skin tones and better detail in mixed lighting.
Editing is where Samsung really wants the AI story to land. The upgraded Photo Assist suite allows users to describe edits in natural language. Want to turn a daytime shot into night, restore a missing detail, or clean up a spill on clothing? The phone is designed to interpret and execute those requests directly. Edits can be reviewed step by step, making the process feel iterative rather than one-click magic.
Overall, the Galaxy S26 series feels like Samsung trying to make AI invisible. Instead of showcasing features as tricks, it is positioning the phone as a dependable assistant that reduces friction across tasks.
Whether that vision translates into everyday reliability is something real-world usage will reveal. But on paper, this is Samsung’s most integrated attempt yet at making AI feel less like hype and more like infrastructure.
Samsung has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy S26 lineup ahead of its worldwide release on March 11, 2026. Pricing begins at roughly $899 (around ₹87,999) for the standard Galaxy S26, while the Galaxy S26+ carries a starting price of about $1,099 (approximately ₹1,19,999). The top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at nearly $1,299 (close to ₹1,39,999) for the base configuration.
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