Samsung Galaxy S26 upgrades? Next‑level. Our review has the receipts.

At its much-hyped "Unpacked" event held in San Francisco last Wednesday, Samsung took the wraps off a trio of new Galaxy S26 smartphones .

While packed with several handy AI tools so you can get more done in less time, arguably the most impressive feature is the world's first privacy screen on a smartphone. Available exclusively on the Galaxy S26 Ultra – the largest and most powerful (and priciest) of the new devices – it prevents over-the-shoulder snoopers from seeing your display. You can even select which apps and notifications this works with. Wild stuff.

More on this in a moment. Available for preorder now in multiple colors and available March 11, I've spent a couple of days with the Galaxy S26 Ultra (from $1,299.99), as well as some limited hands-on time with the Galaxy S26 (from $899.99) and S26+ (from $1,099.99), as well.

Here's what you need to know about the three most impressive features – and a couple of shortcomings.

These are smarter smartphones

Samsung has baked a myriad of AI tools into its Galaxy devices over the past couple of years, whether it's removing unwanted subjects from photos, translating conversations between languages, transcribing and summarizing meetings, and circling items with your phone or stylus pen for a quick web lookup.

The Galaxy S26 series takes it much further.

Between Samsung's own Galaxy AI and Bixby, Google Gemini, and now Perplexity, all three Galaxy S26 devices are loaded with added smarts – should you want to use them, of course.

Part of the Samsung keyboard, my favorite is called Now Nudge, which analyzes what you're typing and suggests timely and relevant actions that will save you a ton of time. For instance, if you're texting with a friend who asks if you're free for lunch next Tuesday, a small pop-up may flag a conflict in your calendar – without you needing to minimize the chat, open the calendar and manually check to see if you're free.

Another example: You're emailing with a relative who asks you to send them the photo from a recent vacation. Galaxy S26 will suggest specific photos from your Gallery to attach to the email.

The upgraded Circle to Search now supports multi-object recognition to quickly look up information based on a photo. For instance, if you circle an outfit that someone is wearing – whether it's an image from social media or a magazine article, or someone you're admiring in line at the supermarket in front of you – you'll now get an itemized list of the entire outfit, from head to toe and even accessories, with links to buy them, if desired. (Um, for the supermarket example, it's probably best to ask permission before taking a photo.)

While I didn't get a chance to test it out, there is some "agentic AI" here, too, such as summoning the Gemini voice assistant to order a rideshare vehicle or a food delivery, and it will complete those tasks with a select number of third-party apps to start (like Uber and DoorDash). You'll need to confirm the task with a single tap. This feature is only available in the U.S. and South Korea, to start.

Privacy a priority

Especially popular among mobile professionals, stick-on privacy shields for smartphones, tablets and laptops can prevent someone beside you (or behind you on an airplane) from seeing your display. But you need to purchase one that fits your exact screen size, apply it properly, and it can impact clarity and brightness.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra, however, is the first phone to ship with a pixel-based privacy shield that also limits visibility for others around you when activated. Samsung says it utilizes a "black matrix" architecture on the pixels (the little dots that make up an image) by firing a narrower beam of light only towards those looking directly at it.

More: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra introduces breakthrough privacy screen

It works in both portrait and landscape orientation, and you can choose for it to always be activated when viewing, say, your banking app, Instagram or WhatsApp. Or can be applied to notifications that pop up. If you want to turn this feature on manually, swipe down on your screen to access the Quick Control Panel, or for faster access, you can set it to turn on by pressing the power button twice.

It really works well, and I suspect this feature will be a huge hit.

Better nighttime pics

As they do with every generation of phones, Samsung added more powerful Snapdragon processors, yet remarkably, delivering a longer battery, too (likely connected to a redesigned vapor chamber to improve heat dissipation). I barely needed to charge up the device this week. Samsung says you can expect up to 31 hours of video playback (on the Galaxy S26 Ultra).

Also on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the rear cameras now have wider apertures, allowing more light in to reach the sensor. This results in brighter and less grainy ("noisy") photos and videos in dimly-lit environments, like trying to capture a group of friends huddling together in a nightclub.

Specifically, the 200-megapixel wide-angle lens now lets in 47 percent more light, says Samsung, while the 50-megapixel telephoto lens lets in 37 percent more light.

Whether you're into campfires or clubbing, this "Nightography" feature is super impressive.

On a related note, video capture is further enhanced with upgraded Super Steady capabilities, which smooths out shaky video.

Galaxy S26 Ultra is also the first Galaxy device to support APV, a new professional-grade video codec – ideal for the creator community.

A few downsides

It would be remiss not to call out a couple of shortcomings.

For one, these are pricy devices. At $1,299.99 to start (or as high as $1,799.99 for 1 terabyte of storage), Galaxy S26 Ultra is $100 more than both the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max (from $1,199.00) and Google's Pixel 10 Pro XL (from $1,199.00). Consider trade-in offers if you have an older Galaxy device.

Secondly, while you can wirelessly charge your Galaxy S26 phones with a compatible Qi mat, there is no magnetic charging support − like Apple's MagSafe or Google's PixelSnap – unless you buy a case that has that feature. Samsung said they wanted to keep the phones super thin and so they opted not to include magnetic charging in the device itself.

Finally, while last year's Galaxy S25 Ultra had an S Pen stylus tucked into the phone, Samsung dropped the Bluetooth support, disappointing some fans, as you previously could use the stylus wirelessly, like clicking through presentations for colleagues or snapping the camera shutter for a selfie. Alas, the S Pen for Galaxy S26 Ultra does not include Bluetooth either.

Overall, however, these are amazingly powerful and innovative devices that surely won't disappoint both diehard Samsung fans and those new to Galaxy.

Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and is the author of the book, Apple Watch For Dummies (Wiley).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Samsung Galaxy S26: AI, privacy screen, and what to know