Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra hands-on: Meaningful tweaks plus a slick new Privacy Display

Last year, it felt like Samsung relied a bit too much on AI when trying to convince people to upgrade to its flagship phone. And while there’s no shortage of features that utilize machine learning on the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, it feels like Samsung has done a much better job of filling out the rest of the phone’s kit with fresh hardware, faster charging and a more cohesive design. It’s still rather expensive, but its price has stayed flat year-over-year at $1,300, which when combined with everything else makes it a much more attractive package than its predecessor.

Design and display

Samsung’s Ultra phones are always going to be somewhat boxy and that’s OK. However, for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the company’s ...