For anyone who takes privacy seriously, Samsung’s newest handset could be a big deal.
The South Korean brand unveiled its much-rumoured Galaxy S26 Ultra on Wednesday (February 25), and early reactions from tech fans have focused on one standout addition: an integrated privacy screen.
Glancing at someone else’s phone has long been a mix of guilty curiosity and second-hand embarrassment, a habit only amplified by years of social media oversharing.
Trying to work out which series a stranger is watching on the commute might be harmless fun, but nobody wants to be the person who ends up in a viral post because an awkward message popped up on-screen or their search history revealed something deeply questionable. You know the posts.
If you’re the type who keeps checking who’s behind you while replying to messages in public, you’ve probably considered — or already bought — a stick-on privacy filter.
Those add-ons restrict visibility to a narrow viewing angle, making it harder for nearby passengers to read what’s on your display.
The downside is convenience: once the film is on, it’s not exactly something you can quickly remove when you actually want to show someone a photo, a map, or a clip.
Samsung’s approach aims to solve that. On the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the privacy screen can be switched on and off directly from the quick settings panel.
That means when you want to share something in person — whether it’s a new meme or yet another video of Punch the monkey — you can simply toggle the feature off and hand your phone over without any hassle.
Tech expert Mukul Sharma showed the feature in action in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter). You can watch it below.
As T3 reports, the feature isn’t just a manual switch: it can be configured to enable automatically for specific apps (like banking), and it can also conceal certain notifications.
It can also obscure PIN entry, although it doesn’t apply to password fields.
For people who prioritise security, that combination could be a serious selling point — potentially even strong enough to tempt some Apple users to switch, especially with Apple’s first foldable phone expected later this year.
That said, Apple could always respond with a similar feature, though that may be less straightforward than it sounds, particularly given Samsung’s role as an OLED screen supplier.
Pricing for the Galaxy S26 Ultra begins at $1,299.99 (or $54.17 per month) for the base configuration, which includes 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM.
The next tier costs $1,499.99 (or $62.50 per month) for 512GB, while the top 1TB option comes in at $1,799.99 (or $75.01 per month).
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra – The Privacy Display in action.#GalaxyUnpacked pic.twitter.com/JhMJIEZf2W
— Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) February 25, 2026
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is available in six colours: black, white, sky blue, cobalt violet, silver shadow and pinkgold. Silver shadow and pinkgold are exclusive to online orders.