Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Is Here: Everything Announced at Unpacked 2026

Samsung took the stage in San Francisco this morning and did what Samsung does every February: unveiled a brand new flagship lineup. The Galaxy S26 series is official, and the headliner is the Galaxy S26 Ultra, complete with a world-first Privacy Display, a souped-up Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and the same $1,299 price tag as last year. Here's everything announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2026 and what it means for your phone setup.

Everything Samsung Announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2026

Samsung kept the lineup tight and familiar: three new phones plus a pair of earbuds.

• Galaxy S26 Ultra — $1,299 (same as S25 Ultra)
• Galaxy S26+ — $1,099 ($100 price increase over S25+)
• Galaxy S26 — $899 ($100 price increase over S25)
• Galaxy Buds 4 — $179
• Galaxy Buds 4 Pro — $249

All devices are available for preorder now and ship March 11.

Galaxy S26 Ultra: The Big One

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the phone everyone was watching, and Samsung delivered a few genuinely new tricks alongside the usual spec bumps.

The Privacy Display (World's First)

The headline feature is something no other phone on the market has: a built-in Privacy Display. This isn't a stick-on privacy screen protector. Samsung engineered two types of pixels directly into the OLED panel. One set fires light straight forward (for your eyes). The other set is wider, illuminating the sides so you can view the screen from any angle normally. Enable Privacy Display mode and that second set of pixels shuts off entirely, blocking what anyone to your left, right, above, or below can see.

You can toggle it on globally from the Quick Settings tile, set it to activate automatically for specific apps (banking, passwords), turn it on whenever notifications pop up, or tie it to Samsung Routines so it activates by location. Five years of R&D went into this one feature, and early hands-on impressions from The Verge call it "super impressive."

Specs at a Glance

Performance Upgrades

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy brings serious performance gains over the previous generation. Samsung claims a 19% CPU boost, a 24% GPU improvement, and a 39% jump in NPU (neural processing) performance. That last number matters most for Galaxy AI: tasks like real-time translation, photo editing, and call screening all run on-device through the NPU.

Samsung also redesigned the vapor chamber with thermal interface material running along the sides of the processor, which should mean less thermal throttling during extended gaming or video recording sessions.

Galaxy AI Gets Smarter

Samsung's third-generation AI phone leans hard into proactive, context-aware features:

• Now Nudge — When a friend texts about evening plans, Galaxy AI checks your calendar, spots a conflict, and surfaces a nudge bubble so you can respond without switching apps.
• Circle to Search (multi-element) — Circle a celebrity's whole outfit and get a curated shopping list for every piece.
• Photo Assist upgrades — Type what you want changed ("make it night," "remove the stain," "put a cake bite back") and AI rebuilds the image naturally.
• Creative Studio — Generate custom sticker sets, invitations, and wallpapers from a text prompt.
• Bixby + Gemini + Perplexity — Say "my eyes feel tired" and Bixby suggests activating Eye Comfort Shield automatically. Google Gemini can book an Uber or order DoorDash on your behalf in supported apps.

Camera System

The camera hardware is largely the same four-sensor setup from the S25 Ultra (200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP 5x periscope, 10MP 3x telephoto), but Samsung widened the apertures meaningfully. The main camera is 47% brighter. The 5x telephoto is 37% brighter. For nighttime shooting and low-light zoom shots, that's a real-world difference. Enhanced Nightography Video and upgraded Super Steady (now with a horizontal lock option) round out the video improvements. The S26 Ultra is also the first Galaxy device to support APV, a professional-grade video codec designed for near-lossless quality through repeated editing.

Galaxy S26 and S26+: The Rest of the Lineup

The base S26 and S26+ get the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 12GB RAM, and a fresh Galaxy AI feature set. Here's how the full lineup stacks up:

Worth noting: the S26 and S26+ are each $100 more than their predecessors, likely due to RAM price increases. Samsung bumped base storage to 256GB on the S26 (up from 128GB), which softens the blow a bit. The Ultra holds at $1,299.

Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro

Samsung also refreshed its earbuds lineup. The Galaxy Buds 4 ($179) and Buds 4 Pro ($249) add ultra-wideband support and gesture controls, with the Pro model featuring an upgraded two-way speaker system (5.5mm planar tweeter plus a new 11mm woofer with 20% more effective area and 50% less distortion). Both models support One UI 8.5's refined notification interactions. Preorders are open now; they ship March 11 alongside the phones.

The Qi2 Situation: Samsung Still Doesn't Build In Magnets

Here's the one thing Samsung Galaxy owners need to know every single year: Samsung phones do not have built-in magnets. The S26 series is marketed as "Qi2 Ready," which sounds great until you realize it means the phone supports Qi2 wireless charging only if you have a magnetic case attached. No case, no Qi2.

Samsung sells an official magnetic case for $50. But that gets you a thin silicone sleeve and a magnet ring. Nothing else.

This is where MagBak changes the game.

MagBak Cases for Samsung Galaxy: More Than Just a Magnet

MagBak has been building magnetic cases for Samsung Galaxy phones since before Qi2 was a thing. Every MagBak case ships with N52 neodymium magnets built right in, so your Galaxy S26 becomes Qi2-compatible the moment you snap the case on. But that's just the baseline.

Two Case Lines, Both Built Around Magnets

MagBak Classic Case — A slim TPU case with a soft-touch finish, built-in magnets, and full Qi2 wireless charging support. Works with every MagBak mount, wallet, and charger. Starts at $29.

MagBak Elite Case — A polycarbonate and TPU shell that adds swappable accent colors, a built-in extendable finger loop, a camera lens protector, a built-in kickstand, and the iconic pinky pillow for a more natural grip. Everything the Classic does, plus a whole lot more. Starts at $39.

No other case gives you all of that in one package. The Elite is genuinely in a category of its own.

What You Unlock with a MagBak Case

Once you've got a MagBak case on your Galaxy S26, the whole MagBak ecosystem opens up:

• MagStick Mounts — Stick them anywhere (car dash, desk, kitchen, gym wall) with 3M adhesive. No vent clips. No bulky cradles. Your phone just clicks on and holds.
• MagBak Wallet — A slim leather wallet (Nappa or Saffiano) with a removable finger loop that snaps magnetically to the back of your case. Holds multiple cards. Magnets will not erase your credit cards.
• MagBak Wireless Car Charger — Charges your phone magnetically while you drive. Works with Apple CarPlay too.
• MagBak 3-in-1 Qi2.2 Travel Charger — A compact travel charger that keeps your phone topped up on the road.

S26 Case Availability

MagBak currently offers cases for the Galaxy S25 series (from $59) and S24 series (from $55). S26 cases are in the works. If you want to be first in line when the S26 case drops, check the product page below and keep an eye on your inbox.

Why MagBak Makes More Sense Than Samsung's Own Case

Samsung's official S26 Ultra magnetic case costs $50 and gives you a plain silicone shell with a magnet ring. That's it. No mounting system. No wallet. No kickstand. No finger loop. Just a magnet.

A MagBak Elite case gives you magnets plus a kickstand, a finger loop, a pinky pillow, swappable accent colors, and lens protection, all while plugging you into a full ecosystem of mounts, wallets, and chargers. For roughly the same price (or less), you get substantially more.

It's the difference between buying a magnet and buying a system.

— The MagBak Team